ABSTRACT
Objective
Epileptogenesis, the process by which the brain becomes epileptic, is related to neuroinflammation, hyperexcitability cognitive deficits. Evidence suggests that improving brain inflammation can inhibit the epileptogenesis process and help the emergence of new drugs for the treatment of epilepsy. Therefore, the PTZ kindling model of epilepsy was utilized to assess the neuroprotective role of thiamine in epileptogenesis.
Methods
Male rats were exposed to PTZ-induced kindling and pretreated with low thiamine (25 mg/kg) or high thiamine (50 mg/kg). Cyclooxygenase (COX-1 and COX-2), interleukin 1-beta (IL-1β), tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α), and nuclear factor-κB (NF-κB) concentrations in the brain were analyzed using biochemical assays. Cognitive function was evaluated using the passive avoidance test.
Results
Thiamine ameliorated epileptogenesis and enhanced the rats’ performance in the passive avoidance test. Also, thiamine significantly decreased the level of neuroinflammatory mediators in the brain induced by PTZ.
Conclusion
These results provide evidence that thiamine alleviates PTZ-induced neuroinflammation and cognitive impairments.
Acknowledgments
We would like to thank the Sivas Cumhuriyet University, School of Medicine, CUTFAM Research Center, Sivas, Turkey, for providing the necessary facilities to conduct this study.
Authors’ contributions
Sebahattin Karabulut contributed to the experimental design, statistical analysis, manuscript writing, and editing. Ahmet Kemal Filiz contributed to the experimental design and experimental procedures. Recep Akkaya contributed to the experimental design, biochemical analysis, and manuscript editing.
Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).