Collard Elise, Germany Morrison Enrique, Reina Elena Acedo, Dereli Ayse S, Apaire Auriane, Nonclercq Antoine, El Tahry Riem
Clinical Neuroscience, Institute of Neuroscience (IoNS), Université Catholique de Louvain, Brussels, Belgium.
BEAMS Department, Université Libre de Bruxelles, Brussels, Belgium.
Front Neurosci. 2025 Jul 7;19:1568261. doi: 10.3389/fnins.2025.1568261. eCollection 2025.
One-third of epileptic patients are resistant to conventional treatments. Vagus nerve stimulation is a promising therapy, especially when applied early during seizure onset. This study explores vagus nerve activity (VNA) during seizures in Genetic Absence Epilepsy Rat from Strasbourg (GAERS) model and explores how VNA changes with epilepsy duration.
Eleven rats (4, 6, and 10 months old, , 4, 3, respectively) were continuously recorded with electroencephalography, VNA recordings, and video for 24 h. Ictal VNA root mean square (RMS) values preceded by NREM sleep extracted from 11 rats were studied in a total of 620 seizures.
Overall, VNA RMS increased during seizures, with a median rise of 60%. However, this modulation decreased with age, despite stable seizure severity. Significant differences in VNA activity and inter-quartile range were observed between age groups.
These results support seizure severity-dependent changes in ictal VNA modulation and point toward the potential of VNA as a biomarker for seizure detection and autonomic dysfunction.
三分之一的癫痫患者对传统治疗有抗药性。迷走神经刺激是一种很有前景的治疗方法，尤其是在癫痫发作初期应用时。本研究探讨了斯特拉斯堡遗传性失神癫痫大鼠（GAERS）模型癫痫发作期间的迷走神经活动（VNA），并探讨了VNA如何随癫痫持续时间而变化。
对11只大鼠（分别为4、6和10个月大，数量分别为4、3和4只）进行连续24小时的脑电图、VNA记录和视频记录。从11只大鼠中提取非快速眼动睡眠期之前发作期的VNA均方根（RMS）值，共研究了620次发作。
总体而言，发作期间VNA RMS增加，中位数上升60%。然而，尽管癫痫发作严重程度稳定，但这种调节作用随年龄增长而降低。各年龄组之间在VNA活动和四分位间距方面存在显著差异。
这些结果支持发作期VNA调节与癫痫发作严重程度相关的变化，并指出VNA作为癫痫检测和自主神经功能障碍生物标志物的潜力。
