Johnson D D, Wilcox R, Tuchek J M, Crawford R D
Epilepsia. 1985 Sep-Oct;26(5):466-71. doi: 10.1111/j.1528-1157.1985.tb05682.x.
The high seizure susceptibility in epileptic chickens is due to an autosomal recessive mutation. In 3-day-old chicks homozygous for the epilepsy gene (epileptics), elevation of body temperature using microwave diathermy evoked an initial febrile seizure resembling the clonic seizures evoked in epileptic chicks by photic stimulation. After complete recovery, this was followed by a clonic-tonic seizure. In nonepileptic heterozygote hatchmates (carriers) of the same age, only the latter seizure pattern was observed. In 16- to 17-day-old chicks of either phenotype, both seizure patterns were observed during hyperthermia. In all cases, the temperature at which seizures occurred was significantly lower in epileptic than in nonepileptic chicks, indicating a lower threshold for febrile seizures when there is an inherited predisposition to convulse. The occurrence of seizures was dependent on the body temperature and not on the rate of rise of temperature. Elevation of the brain gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) concentrations by administration of the GABA transaminase inhibitor gamma-vinyl GABA reduced the incidence of the initial febrile seizures and increased the latency in those birds that were not fully protected.
癫痫鸡的高癫痫易感性是由常染色体隐性突变引起的。在癫痫基因纯合的3日龄雏鸡（癫痫鸡）中，使用微波透热法升高体温会引发最初的热性惊厥，类似于光刺激在癫痫鸡中引发的阵挛性惊厥。完全恢复后，接着会出现阵挛 - 强直性惊厥。在相同年龄的非癫痫杂合子同窝雏鸡（携带者）中，仅观察到后一种惊厥模式。在16至17日龄的两种表型雏鸡中，高温期间两种惊厥模式均有观察到。在所有情况下，癫痫鸡发生惊厥时的体温明显低于非癫痫鸡，这表明当存在遗传性惊厥易感性时，热性惊厥的阈值较低。惊厥的发生取决于体温，而不取决于体温上升的速率。通过给予γ-氨基丁酸转氨酶抑制剂γ-乙烯基γ-氨基丁酸提高脑γ-氨基丁酸（GABA）浓度，可降低最初热性惊厥的发生率，并增加那些未得到充分保护的鸡的潜伏期。
