Talks and posters
Kim's award winning poster!
Congratulations Kim on your award winning poster!
1st place in the Student Brain Symposium 2011
1st place in the 8th Asian & Oceanian Epilepsy Congress 2010
Low blood glucose precipitates spike-and-wave discharge activities in a mouse model of epilepsy
Tae Hwan Kim1.3, Christopher A. Reid1,3, Samuel F. Berkovic2 and Steve Petrou1,3
1. Florey Neuroscience Institute The University of Melbourne, Parkville, Australia
2. Department of Medicine, Austin Health, The University of Melbourne, Heidelberg West, Australia
3. Centre for Neuroscience, The University of Melbourne, Parkville, Australia
Absence seizures are defined as unprovoked behavioural arrest associated with generalized spike and wave discharge (SWD) on EEGs. Absence epilepsies have a largely genetic aetiology but it is well known that environmental effects such as decreased vigilance and voluntary hyperventilation may induce seizures. However, we still don’t have a complete understanding of all the environmental precipitants. Low glucose in general has not been considered an environmental factor but the manifestation of absence epilepsy in patients with brain glucose transporter deficiencies has raised this possibility. Here we investigate if lowering blood glucose can precipitate SWD activity in a animal model of absence epilepsy.
This study highlights a highly reproducible, immediate, reversible and dose dependent impact of low blood glucose on SWD expression in the animal model of absence epilepsy. We also showed that overnight fasting can reduce blood glucose levels sufficiently to precipitate SWD activity. Our findings suggest that low blood glucose needs to be considered as a potential environmental risk factor in absence epilepsy motivating further clinical studies into this phenomenon.
 Poster (ILAE Congress).pdf | [ ] | 328 Kb |