Altered autonomic activity has been implicated in the development of cardiac dysfunction during seizures. This study investigates whether intervening in seizure progression with diazepam will reduce seizure-induced cardiomyopathy. Second, this study examines the hypothesis that combining atenolol with diazepam, as an intervention after seizure onset, will combat cardiac injury during status epilepticus.
Male Sprague-Dawley rats were implanted with electroencephalographic/electrocardiographic electrodes to allow simultaneous recordings during seizures induced by intrahippocampal (2 nmol, 1 μL) kainic acid (KA). Subcutaneous saline, atenolol (5 mg·kg-1), diazepam (5 mg·kg-1), or atenolol and diazepam (n = 12/group) were administered at 60 minutes post-KA and daily for 7 days, at which point echocardiography, susceptibility to aconitine-induced arrhythmias, and histology were evaluated.
Seizure activity was associated with immediately increased heart rate, QTc interval, and blood pressure (BP; 10%-30% across indices). Seven days postseizure, saline-treated animals were found to have reduced left ventricular function, increased fibrotic scarring, and an elevated risk of aconitine-induced arrhythmias. Diazepam treatment significantly reduced cumulative seizure behaviors by 79% compared to saline-treated animals but offered no cardiac protection. Diazepam significantly raised BP (35%) and increased the risk of bigeminal arrhythmias (36%) compared to saline-treated animals. Atenolol administration, either alone or with diazepam, reduced heart rate, QTc interval, and BP back to control levels. Atenolol also preserved cardiac morphology and reduced arrhythmia risk.
Attenuation of seizure with diazepam offered no cardiac protection; however, coadministration of atenolol with diazepam prevented the development of seizure-induced cardiac dysfunction. This study demonstrates that atenolol intervention should be strongly considered as an adjunct clinical treatment to reduce cardiomyopathy during seizures.
Pharmacology, Toxicology and Pharmaceutical Science
3
9%
Agricultural and Biological Sciences
3
9%
Nursing and Health Professions
2
6%
Veterinary Science and Veterinary Medicine
1
3%
Other
6
17%
Unknown
15
43%
Attention Score in Context
Attention Score in Context
This research output has an Altmetric Attention Score of 12. This is our high-level measure of the quality and quantity of online attention that it has received. This Attention Score, as well as the ranking and number of research outputs shown below, was calculated when the research output was last mentioned on 07 April 2018.
All research outputs
#3,168,091
of 27,788,803 outputs
Outputs from Epilepsia
#1,078
of 6,525 outputs
Outputs of similar age
#58,928
of 352,559 outputs
Outputs of similar age from Epilepsia
#16
of 68 outputs
Altmetric has tracked 27,788,803 research outputs across all sources so far. Compared to these this one has done well and is in the 88th percentile: it's in the top 25% of all research outputs ever tracked by Altmetric.
So far Altmetric has tracked 6,525 research outputs from this source. They typically receive more attention than average, with a mean Attention Score of 9.5. This one has done well, scoring higher than 82% of its peers.
Older research outputs will score higher simply because they've had more time to accumulate mentions. To account for age we can compare this Altmetric Attention Score to the 352,559 tracked outputs that were published within six weeks on either side of this one in any source. This one has done well, scoring higher than 83% of its contemporaries.
We're also able to compare this research output to 68 others from the same source and published within six weeks on either side of this one. This one has done well, scoring higher than 76% of its contemporaries.
