BACKGROUND:Kainicacidcanbeusedtoinduceamodelofepilepsybysystemicinjection,suchasintraperitonealorsubcutaneousinjection.Inpidualratshavedifferentresponsestokainicacid,thereforehighdosesofdrugarerequiredandthesuccessrateofmodelinductionislow.Itisnecessarytodevelopanimprovedmethodtoestablishatemporallobeepilepsy(TLE)animalmodel.OBJECTIVE:Toexploreaneconomic,stableandefficientmethodofestablishingaTLEanimalmodel.DESIGN,TIMEANDSETTING:Acompletelyrandomized,controlledstudy.TheexperimentswereperformedintheCellularFunctionLaboratoryofthePhysiologyDepartment,AnhuiMedicalUniversityfromMarchtoJuly2007.MATERIALS:TwentyadultmaleWistarrats,weighing230–260g,wereprovidedbytheExperimentalAnimalCentreofNanjingMedicalUniversity.KainicacidwaspurchasedfromSigmainUSA.TypeSN-2stereotaxicapparatuswasmadebyNarishgeinJapan.METHODS:Wistarratswererandomlypidedintoakainicacid(KA)group(n=12)andanormalsaline(NS)group(n=8).Forintrahippocampalmicroinjection,aburrholewasdrilledintheskullatthefollowingstereotaxiccoordinates:anteroposterior(AP)4.1mmcaudaltobregma;lateral(ML)4.2mmrightlateraltothemidline.RatsintheKAgroupwereinjectedwith2.5μLKA(0.4g/L)intothecenteroftheCA3region,whileintheNSgroupthesamevolumeofNSwasinjectedintothesamesite.MAINOUTCOMEMEASURES:Bothgroupsweremonitoredunderavideocapturesystemfor12weekstorecordspontaneousseizures.Intracranialeletroencepholograph(IEEG)recordingsinvivowereperformedafterthebehavioralobservations.AftertheIEEGrecordings,hippocampiwereprocessedintocoronalsections.NisslandTimmstainingswerethenperformedtoobserveandconfirmpathology.RESULTS:Twentyratswereinvolvedinthefinalanalysis.Behavioralobservations:theearliestspontaneousonsetofepilepsyappeared2weeksafterinjectionofKA.Eightratshadspontaneouson