Rocio Leal-Campanario, Luis Alarcon-Martinez, Hector Rieiro, Susana Martinez-Conde, Tugba Alarcon-Martinez, Xiuli Zhao, Jonathan LaMee, Pamela J Osborn Popp, Michael E Calhoun, Juan I Arribas, Alexander A Schlegel, Leandro L Di Stasi, Jong M Rho, Landon Inge, Jorge Otero-Millan, David M Treiman, Stephen L Macknik
Seizure-driven brain damage in epilepsy accumulates over time, especially in the hippocampus, which can lead to sclerosis, cognitive decline, and death. Excitotoxicity is the prevalent model to explain ictal neurodegeneration. Current labeling technologies cannot distinguish between excitotoxicity and hypoxia, however, because they share common molecular mechanisms. This leaves open the possibility that undetected ischemic hypoxia, due to ictal blood flow restriction, could contribute to neurodegeneration previously ascribed to excitotoxicity...
February 27, 2017: Scientific Reports