[Abstract Title]. - Society for Neuroscience

Poster
248. Dystonia
Time: Sunday, November 16, 2008, 1:00 pm - 5:00 pm
Program#/Poster#: 248.6/U5
Topic: C.03.j. Dystonia
Title: Deep brain stimulation of the entopeduncular nucleus induces striatal c-fos expression in
the dystonic hamster
Authors: *W. MEISSNER 1 , R. REESE 1 , G. CHARRON 1 , A. NADJAR 1 , I. AUBERT 1 , M.-L.
THIOLAT 1 , M. HAMANN 2 , A. RICHTER 2 , E. BEZARD 1 ;
1 Lab. Neurophysiol, CNRS UMR 5227, Bordeaux, France; 2 Inst. of Pharmacol. and Toxicology,
Dept. of Vet. Med., Freie Univ., Berlin, Germany
Abstract: Pallidal deep brain stimulation (DBS) is an established therapy to alleviate symptoms
of focal and generalized dystonia. Its mechanisms of action are, however, only incompletely
understood. The dtsz hamster is a well characterized model of non-kinesiogenic paroxysmal
dystonia where animals display age-dependent long-lasting attacks of generalised dystonia in
response to mild stress. Bilateral DBS of the entopeduncular nucleus (EP, corresponds to the
human internal pallidum) significantly reduces the severity of dystonic symptoms in these
animals. We here assess the effect of entopeduncular nucleus deep brain stimulation on the
expression of c-fos and cytochrome oxidase subunit I (COI) in the cortex-basal ganglia network
in dystonic hamsters. Unilateral subchronic EP-DBS was performed in anesthetized dtszhamsters
and controls. Expression of c-fos and COI was assessed in the cortex-basal ganglia
network by using immunohistochemistry. C-fos expression was generally lower in dtsz hamsters
than in controls, while COI expression was higher in most assessed structures. EP-DBS
significantly increased striatal c-fos expression in dtsz hamsters and controls, while COI
expression was not modified. Previous results suggest an age dependent deficiency in
parvalbumin positive striatal GABAergic interneurons as a feature of dystonic hamsters. It is
tempting to speculate that EP-DBS may particularly increase c-fos expression in these striatal
interneurons which may positively affect abnormal information processing in the basal ganglia
and finally underlie clinical improvement
Disclosures: W. Meissner , None; G. Charron, None; R. Reese, None; A. Nadjar, None; I.
Aubert, None; M. Thiolat, None; E. Bezard, None; M. Hamann, None; A. Richter, None.