410 - Acute Seizure Activity in Neonatal Inflammation-Sensitized Hypoxia-Ischemia

Poster Number: 410
Publication Number: 410.237

Angelina June, University of Virginia School of Medicine, Charlottesville, VA, United States; Chia-Yi KUAN, University of Virginia, Department of Neuroscience, Charlottesville, VA, United States; Jennifer Burnsed, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA, United States

Background: Hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy (HIE) is a severe brain injury in newborns that affects 1.5 per 1000 live births worldwide and is the most common cause of neonatal seizures. Perinatal infections are a common and significant risk factor for HIE. Previous studies have shown that infection in the setting of HIE has a poorer response to therapeutic hypothermia (TH). A more complete understanding of acute seizure activity following HIE complicated by infection will provide crucial opportunities for novel therapies.

Objective: The objective of this study is to characterize acute seizure activity in HI brain injury complicated by infection compared to HI brain injury alone.

Design/Methods: Neonatal mice (p9) were stereotactically implanted with electroencephalography (EEG) headsets and divided into 3 groups: sham, hypoxia-ischemia (HI), and inflammation-sensitized HI. HI injury was achieved at p10 utilizing the Vannucci method. Inflammation-sensitization was achieved at p10 utilizing E. coli lipopolysaccharide (LPS) injection. All groups underwent continuous video EEG recording at baseline, during post-ligation, 8% hypoxia, and post-hypoxia. Video EEGs were then analyzed for electrographic seizure activity.

Results: All neonatal mice in the HI (n = 10 [5 female, 5 male]) and inflammation-sensitized HI groups (n = 12 [5 female, 7 male]) had electrographic seizures. No mice in the sham group (n = 4 [3 female, 1 male]) had seizures. There was no significant difference in seizure duration between inflammation-sensitized HI versus HI alone or seizure duration between males and females in the HI group. There were significantly longer seizure durations in inflammation-sensitized HI females vs. males (p = 0.03).Conclusion(s): Our preliminary data show that females with inflammation-sensitized HI have significantly longer seizures than males. The next steps include further analyses of video EEGs, including background attenuation and power spectrogram comparisons.
Seizure Duration in Hypoxia-IschemiaThere was no significant difference in seizure duration between males and females in the hypoxia-ischemia only group.
Seizure Duration in Inflammation-Sensitized (via LPS) Hypoxia-IschemiaIn the inflammation-sensitized hypoxia-ischemia group, females experienced longer seizures compared to males