This study aims to investigate the potential effects of anticonvulsant drugs on neuropeptides (galanin and neuropeptide Y) and neurotrophic factors (BDNF and NGF) in pentylenetetrazol (PTZ)-kindled seizures in the rat.
Overall, these studies demonstrate the requirement for NRIF to signal p75(NTR)-mediated apoptosis of hippocampal neurons and that blocking pro-NGF can inhibit neuronal loss after seizures.
As nerve growth factor and brain derived neurotrophic factor are the best-studied proteins of this class, we begin by discussing the evidence linking these neurotrophins to epilepsy and seizure.
Furthermore, neuronal electrical activity and seizures stimulate the transcription of specific messenger RNAs coding for neurotrophic factors like nerve growth factor (NGF) or brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF).
The nerve growth factor-induced clone C (NGFI-C) gene encodes a zinc-finger transcription factor that is rapidly induced by nerve growth factor in rat pheochromocytoma PC12 cells and by seizure in brain.