Relationship of angiogenesis and microglial activation to seizure-induced neuronal death in the cerebral cortex of Shetland Sheepdogs with familial epilepsy

Objective—To determine whether angiogenesis and microglial activation were related to seizure-induced neuronal death in the cerebral cortex of Shetland Sheepdogs with familial epilepsy. Animals—Cadavers of 10 Shetland Sheepdogs from the same family (6 dogs with seizures and 4 dogs without seizures) and 4 age-matched unrelated Shetland Sheepdogs. Procedures—Samples of brain tissues were collected after euthanasia and then fixed in neutral phosphate–buffered 10% formalin and routinely embedded in paraffin. The fixed samples were sectioned for H&E staining and immunohistochemical analysis. Results—Evidence of seizure-induced neuronal death was detected exclusively in samples of cerebral cortical tissue from the dogs with familial epilepsy in which seizures had been observed. The seizure-induced neuronal death was restricted to tissues from the cingulate cortex and sulci surrounding the cerebral cortex. In almost the same locations as where seizure-induced neuronal death was identified, microvessels appeared ...