Characterization of benzodiazepine receptor binding following kainic acid administration: an autoradiography study in rats.

Effects of status epilepticus and chronic temporal lobe epilepsy on benzodiazepine (BDZ) receptor binding in the rat brain were evaluated using in vitro autoradiography, 24 h and 40 days after kainic acid (KA) administration (10 mg/kg i.p). One day after KA-induced status epilepticus and in comparison to saline control group, significantly increased BDZ binding was detected in pyriform cortex (53%), whereas decreased binding was found in anterior amygdaloid nucleus (28%), fields CA1-3 of Ammon's horn (25%) and dentate gyrus (27%). Forty days after status epilepticus, significantly BDZ binding augmentation was noticed in dentate gyrus (65%) and in periaqueductal gray dorsolateral (52%), whereas decreased binding was found in medial thalamic nucleus (70%). Our data indicate different patterns of BDZ binding following KA administration, which may depend on the consequences of the status epilepticus (24 h after KA) and temporal lobe epilepsy (40 days after KA) per se.