The thalamo-cortical circuit is important in the genesis of absence epilepsy. This circuit can be influenced by connecting pathways from various parts of central nervous system. The aim of the present study is to define the dento-thalamic connections in Wistar animals and compare the results with genetic absence epilepsy rats from Strasbourg (GAERS) using the biotinylated dextran amine (BDA) tracer. We injected BDA into the dentate nucleus of 13 (n = 6 Wistar and n = 7 GAERS) animals. The dento-thalamic connections in the Wistar animals were denser and were connected to a wider range of thalamic nuclei compared with GAERS. The dentate nucleus was bilaterally connected to the central (central medial [CM], paracentral [PC]), ventral (ventral medial [VM], ventral lateral [VL], and ventral posterior lateral [VPL]), and posterior (Po) thalamic nuclei in Wistar animals. The majority of these connections were dense contralaterally and scarce ipsilaterally. Contralateral connections were present with the parafascicular (PF), ventral posterior medial, ventral anterior (VA), and central lateral (CL) thalamic nuclei in Wistar animals. Whereas in GAERS, bilateral connections were observed with the VL and CM. Contralateral connections were present with the PC, VM, VA, and PF thalamic nuclei in GAERS. The CL, VPL, and Po thalamic nucleus connections were not observed in GAERS. The present study showed weak/deficit dento-thalamic connections in GAERS compared with control Wistar animals. The scarce information flow from the dentate nucleus to thalamus in GAERS may have a deficient modulatory role on the thalamus and thus may affect modulation of the thalamo-cortical circuit.

中文翻译：

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史特拉斯堡的遗传缺失癫痫大鼠的齿-丘脑连接与对照组的Wistar大鼠不同吗？

丘脑皮质回路在缺乏癫痫的发生中很重要。该回路可能受到中枢神经系统各个部位的连接路径的影响。本研究的目的是确定Wistar动物中的牙本质-丘脑连接，并使用生物素化的右旋糖酐胺（BDA）示踪剂将结果与史特拉斯堡（GAERS）的遗传缺失癫痫大鼠进行比较。我们将BDA注入13只动物（n = 6 Wistar和n = 7 GAERS）的齿状核中。与GAERS相比，Wistar动物中的齿-丘脑连接密度更高，并且连接到更广泛的丘脑核。齿状核双侧连接到中央（中央内侧[CM]，中央旁[PC]），腹侧（腹内侧[VM]，腹侧外侧[VL]和腹侧后外侧[VPL]），Wistar动物的丘脑后核。这些连接的大多数对侧密集，同侧稀疏。在Wistar动物中，对侧连接存在于束旁（PF），腹侧后内侧，腹侧前（VA）和中央外侧（CL）丘脑核。而在GAERS中，观察到VL和CM的双边连接。GAERS中与PC，VM，VA和PF丘脑核存在对侧连接。在GAERS中未观察到CL，VPL和Po丘脑核连接。本研究表明，与对照Wistar动物相比，GAERS中的丘脑/丘脑连接较弱/不足。