4.2. Generation of Epileptic Rats

Rats were given LiCl (127 mg/kg, i.p.) 24 h before the pilocarpine treatment. Animals were treated with pilocarpine (30 mg/kg, i.p.) 20 min after atropine methylbromide (5 mg/kg i.p.). Two hours after SE onset, diazepam (Valium; Hoffmann-la Roche, Neuilly-sur-Seine, France; 10 mg/kg, i.p.) was administered to terminate convulsive SE and repeated, as needed, although it could not exclude the possibility that non-convulsive seizures would persist beyond the time of treatment. Control animals received saline in place of pilocarpine. Animals were video monitored 8 h a day for 4 weeks for selecting chronic epileptic rats showing spontaneous recurrent seizures [9,53]. Behavioral seizure severity was evaluated according to Racine’s scale: 1, immobility, eye closure, twitching of vibrissae, sniffing, facial clonus; 2, head nodding associated with more severe facial clonus; 3, clonus of one forelimb; 4, rearing, often accompanied by bilateral forelimb clonus; and 5, rearing with loss of balance and falling accompanied by generalized clonic seizures. We classified epileptic rats that showed behavioral seizure activities with seizure score ≥ 3 more than once.