The effects of callosal agenesis on the susceptibility to seizures elicited by pentylenetetrazol in BALB/cCF mice

The effects of callosal agenesis in sensitivity to pentylenetetrazol (PTZ) were studied in 199 (95 males and 104 females) mice of the BALB/cCF strain. This strain presents agenesis of the corpus callosum (CC) in approximately 30% of its population. Seizures were elicited by intraperitoneally injected PTZ. Animals were tested with doses of 40 and 50 mg/kg. Seizure severity was expressed by the following scoring scale: 0 (no abnormal behavior NAB); 1 (myoclonus, M); 2 (running bouncing clonus, RBC); 3 (tonic hindlimb extension, THE). For the 40-mg/kg dose, abnormal mice were found to be more susceptible, displaying more severe seizures more often then normal mice. Normal female mice were also more susceptible to PTZ than males for this dose. No significant differences were found for the 50-mg/kg dose as a result of the fact that most animals displayed RBC. These data indicate that callosal development and sex are important factors affecting seizure susceptibility. (C) 2002 Elsevier Science Inc. All rights reserved.