Abstract
Febrile (fever-induced) seizures affect 3–5% of infants and young children. Despite the high incidence of febrile seizures, their contribution to the development of epilepsy later in life has remained controversial. Combining a new rat model of complex febrile seizures and patch clamp techniques, we determined that hyperthermia-induced seizures in the immature rat cause a selective presynaptic increase in inhibitory synaptic transmission in the hippocampus that lasts into adulthood. The long-lasting nature of these potent alterations in synaptic communication after febrile seizures does not support the prevalent view of the 'benign' nature of early-life febrile convulsions.
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Acknowledgements
We thank M. Ahmadi and R. Zhu for technical assistance. This work was financially supported by NIH (NS35439 to T.Z.B. and NS38580 to I.S.), by UC Systemwide Biotechnology Research and Education Program (BREP-98-02 to T.Z.B. & I.S.) and by the Epilepsy Foundation of America (EFA-24106 to I.S).
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Chen, K., Baram, T. & Soltesz, I. Febrile seizures in the developing brain result in persistent modification of neuronal excitability in limbic circuits. Nat Med 5, 888–894 (1999). https://doi.org/10.1038/11330
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/11330
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