Malnutrition increases dentate granule cell proliferation in immature ratsafter status epilepticus

Purpose: Nutritional insults early in life have a profound and often perman ent effect on the development of the central nervous system. A direct relat ionship between malnutrition and epilepsy has not been established; however , it is believed that inadequate nutrition may predispose the brain to seiz ures. This study was designed to determine whether neonatally malnourished rats are different from nourished rats in terms of flurothyl seizure suscep tibility at postnatal day (P)15, in the behavioral manifestations of seizur es, and in status epilepticus-induced hippocampal injury. Methods: Sprague-Dawley rat pups were maintained on a starvation regimen fr om P2, until P17. Age-matched control rats were not exposed to starvation. At P15, all animals were exposed to flurothyl-induced status epilepticus. A t P17, the rats received a single injection of bromodeoxyuridine (50 mg/kg intraperitoneal) to determine the extent of genesis of new cells in the den tate gyrus. At P18, the rats were killed, and the brains were processed for histology and immunohistochemistry. Results: Preliminary analysis indicates that early malnutrition did not mod ify flurothyl seizure susceptibility ol the behavioral manifestations of se izures at P15. Histological assessment did not reveal any evidence of hippo campal cell loss after status epilepticus in either group. Malnutrition per se induced an increase in the genesis of new cells in the anterior dentate granule cell layer. Although exposure to status epilepticus augmented the expression of new cells in the dentate gyrus in both groups, this expressio n was more pronounced in the malnourished group. Conclusions: The findings suggest that malnutrition early in life alters de ntate plasticity but not the susceptibility to flurothyl seizures. Although status epilepticus can increase the expression of new cells in the dentate gyrus in immature rats, malnutrition followed by status epilepticus furthe r increases dentate granule cell proliferation.