LOWER DENSITY OF A1 ADENOSINE RECEPTORS IN NUCLEUS-RETICULARIS THALAMI IN RATS WITH GENETIC ABSENCE EPILEPSY

THE possible involvement of the adenosinergic modulatory system in the pathogenesis of absence seizures was investigated in genetic absence epilepsy rats from Strasbourg (GAERS). Using in vitro quantitative aut oradiography, the distribution of A1 adenosine receptors and adenosine uptake sites in the brain of GAERS was studied and compared to that o f control animals. An area-specific lower density of A1 receptors (15% decrease) was detected in reticular (nRT) and anterior ventral (AV) t halamic nuclei as well as basal ganglia in the brains of GAERS animals compared with control animals. Since adenosine exerts an anti-oscilla tory effect on the thalamic nuclei by suppressing (via A1 receptors) e xcitatory as well as inhibitory neurotransmitter release, the impairme nt in A1 receptor density seen here, especially in nRT, could be impli cated in the thalamic rhythmicity underlying spike and wave discharges present in this absence epilepsy model. (C) 1998 Rapid Science Ltd.