Injection of colchicine into the dorsal striatum of rat’s brain induces epilepsy

Background and Objective: Despite the massive use of costly models, our understanding of epilepsy is insignificant. We aimed to create the costbeneficial and applicable generalized epilepsy (GE) in rats by injection of identified doses of colchicine (IDC) into the dorsal striatum of rat’s brain. Materials and Methods: 24 male Wistar rats (290350 g) under deep anesthesia were equipped with guide cannulae at the dorsal striatum (AP: 0.48 mm; L: 3 mm; V: 3.6). The injection cannula attached with the polyethylene tubing to the 5µL Hamilton syringe guided daily IDC (925 μg,) into the dorsal striatum of rat’s brain during four consecutive days. The control group only received the saline solution. At the end of the injection, the animal’s behavior was investigated. Finally, all the brains were collected in 10% formalin solution and dissected out to include the striatal regions. The samples were cut coronally into 34 µm thick slices, embedded in paraffin, and processed by the step section technique. The slices were then stained with HematoxylinEosin method and checked under the light photomicroscope for correct placement of injections as well as the possibility of lesions. The data were compared between vehicle and experimental groups by analysis of variance (ANOVA).    Results: The findings show that GE occurs in animals receiving colchicine without significant devastation effect in the injection site in the brain of rat. Conclusion: The plantderived alkaloid, the colchicine, aside depolymerizing of tubulin, may have an inductive effect on epilepsy in the complementary motor striatal region of the rat’s brain