Chronic malnutrition caused by a corn-based diet lowers the threshold for pentylenetetrazol-induced seizures in rats.

The incidence of epilepsy is high in developing countries where malnutrition is prevalent. Although malnutrition is not a direct cause of seizures, chronic malnutrition may predispose the brain to seizures. In large undernourished human groups from Latin America, the most common sources of food are corn and corn derivatives. We used a rat model of chronic malnutrition, in which corn tortillas were the only solid food intake, to study the possible influence of malnutrition at late stages of brain development on the dynamics of experimental seizures induced by pentylenetetrazole (PTZ). The threshold and does of PTZ required to produce seizures were greatly reduced in malnourished rats. The model of malnutrition used in the study imitates a form of malnutrition common among large numbers of humans. Our results suggest that chronic malnutrition early in life induces changes that lower the seizure threshold and leave the brain more susceptible to seizures. Whether this observation relates to the high incidence of epilepsy in underdeveloped countries remains to be determined.