Background & Aims : According to the previous studies, stress enhances seizure attacks in epilepsy. But it is not clear that stress how and through which mechanisms enhance epileptic behaviors. In the present study effects of indirect Restraint Stress in pregnancy period of rats on infant epileptic behaviors have been investigated.

  Materials & Methods : Females rats (200±20gr) were divided in to two groups: 1-entire pregnant rats (control group), 2-under stress pregnant rats (stress group). In the stress group, in 15th day of pregnancy, rats were held immobile into the Plexiglas tube, twice a day and every time for an hour and for a period of three continuous days. Pilocarpin (150 mg/kg.s,c) was injected to infants of both groups, in 25th day after birth, to convey epileptic behaviors. Then epileptic behavior of each rat was observed and recorded by a digital camera for a period of 120 minutes.

  Results : Infants epileptic behaviors of stress group showed significant changes in comparison to control: mean duration of starting first neonatal epileptic behavior in infants of control was 5.35 ± 0.57 minutes which decreased to 3.21 ± 0.43 minutes in stress group (mean ± SEM, Mann-Whitney test). In addition, mean frequency of tonic-clonic attacks in infants of control group was 5 times and with a mean duration of 0.53 minute which increased to 8.2 times and 1.29 minutes, in infants of stress group, respectively. Moreover, mortality rate during attacks showed an increase of 21.4% in infants of stress group.

  Discussion : stress in pregnancy period enhances epileptic behaviors of infant rats but its mechanism requires further investigation.

  Source: Urmia Med J 2011: 22(1): 84 ISSN: 1027-3727