Effects of maternal stress on epileptogenesis and learning in postnatal rat models of epilepsy

Stress is often a common trigger of neurological diseases in daily life. Stress, which is also the trigger of epileptic seizures, affects all body systems, especially the central nervous system. Prenatal maternal stress effects as a factor that increases the epileptic risk by affecting both embryonic development and postnatal development. This study shows that neuronal migration, neurogenesis, and histogenesis-induced disorders in new-born (P10) PTZ- and hypoxia-induced models lead to epileptogenesis in the juvenile period, leading to learning and memory problems. It has been shown that cognitive processes deteriorate with developmental retardation in juvenile rats exposed to maternal stress in embryonic development and epileptic seizures in postnatal development. Especially, the influence of maternal stress on the histological, behavioral and cognitive effects of the PTZ group is important for the development of the offspring. Therefore, in order to avoid the risk of late development and epileptogenesis, it is necessary to avoid stress factors during pregnancy. Hypoxia also exhibits an epileptic-like morphology in the hippocampus, besides the effects on learning and memory skills are antagonized as a factor that increases the risk of epileptogenesis. However, histopathological and behavioral changes in the hypoxic group with maternal stress have increased this risk. Prenatal stress increased learning and memory skills in the control groups, which had the opposite effect on PTZ and hypoxic groups. In future studies, the relationship between stress and epilepsy will gain both a structural and behavioral dimension. Key Words : maternal stress, epilepsy, epileptogenesis, learning, memory, neuronal migration, hippocampus