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[Exploring spatiotemporal patterns of epileptiform discharge in hippocampal slice using multi-electrode arrays.] [Ariticle in Chinese]

LIU Jian-Sheng, GONG Xin-Wei, GONG Hai-Qing, ZHANG Pu-Ming, LIANG Pei-Ji, LU Qin-Chi

Department of Neurology, Renji Hospital, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Shanghai 200127, China； Department of Biomedical Engineering, School of Life Science and Technology, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai 200240, China

Abstract

To investigate the spatiotemporal properties of epileptiform activity in vitro, 400 μm-thick transverse hippocampal sliceswere prepared from juvenile rat and planar multi-electrode array (MEA) containing 60 electrodes was used to record the electricalactivity induced by bath application of high potassium artificial cerebrospinal fluid (ACSF) on slices. Following successful inductionof epileptiform bursts, phenobarbital sodium was applied to test for its inhibitory effects on bursting activity in different regions ofslice. Region-specific characteristics of epileptiform activity and anticonvulsant actions of phenobarbital sodium in the hippocampalnetwork were determined by comparing the population activity obtained from MEA. The results showed that: (1) 15 min after high-K+ ACSF application, rhythmic and synchronous epileptiform bursts could be detected from all CA sub-regions. Quantitative analysisindicates that the firing patterns of different CA sub-regions were not statistically different (P>0.05). However, no bursting activitywas recorded from granular cells in dentate gyrus, only sparse spikes were observed, with frequency significantly lower than that in CAregions (P<0.05). (2) The high-K+-induced bursting activity could last for more than 40 min with stable bursting activities. (3) Bathapplication of 60 μmol/L phenobarbital sodium inhibited the bursting activities on hippocampal slice. Bursting activities in CA3c andCA1 were firstly suppressed. 10 min after the phenobarbital sodium application, strong bursting activities persisted only in some ofpyramidal cells in CA3a and CA3b. These results show that MEA could be applied for studying the spatial and temporal propertiesof epileptiform activity in vitro, as well as the region-specific effects of anti-epileptic drugs.

Key words: Epilepsy; multi-electrode array; hippocampus; burst

Received: 2009-12-30　　Accepted: 2010-02-25

Corresponding author: 陆钦池　　E-mail: qinchilu2005@yahoo.com.cn

Citing This Article：

LIU Jian-Sheng, GONG Xin-Wei, GONG Hai-Qing, ZHANG Pu-Ming, LIANG Pei-Ji, LU Qin-Chi. [Exploring spatiotemporal patterns of epileptiform discharge in hippocampal slice using multi-electrode arrays.] [Ariticle in Chinese] . Acta Physiol Sin 2010; 62 (2): 163-170 (in Chinese with English abstract).