The paired-pulse response: a means of analyzing modulation of granule cell excitability

The authors utilized paired-pulse stimulation of the perforant path input to investigate modulation of dentate granule cell excitability during the kindling process in normal (25%) and prenatally protein-malnourished rats which received dietary rehabilitation at birth (6%-25%). A comparison of paired-pulse tests made before and after kindling indicate that kindling results in enhanced inhibition of granule cell population response to the second pulse of a pulse pair at all interpulse intervals tested in both groups of rats. However, rats of the rehabilitated group showed a significantly higher degree of enhanced inhibition than did rats of the control group. These results provide evidence that the prenatal dietary insult results in enhanced seizure susceptibility coupled with a retardation in the development of the kindled state even in the face of dietary rehabilitation at birth