Purpose: Women with epilepsy often suffer from weight gain. A similar phenomenon is seen in female rats that are kindled from the amygdala. Interestingly, it has been reported that kindling of the left amygdala causes more weight gain than kindling of the right amygdala. The present study was designed to confirm and extend that effect.
Methods: Female Wistar rats were kindled from the left or right basolateral amygdala to a criterion of 40 stage 5 seizures. Control subjects were handled but not stimulated. Subjects were weighed weekly for the duration of the study. Twenty-four hours following the last kindled seizure, kindled subjects and their yoked controls were sacrificed and their brains and serum were extracted.
Results: Kindled subjects weighed significantly more than controls at the end of the kindling procedure and had significantly higher serum levels of leptin. No laterality effects were seen in either weight gain or leptin levels, however.
Conclusion: Amygdala kindling increases weight gain and serum leptin levels in rats, but in the present study no laterality effects were seen.
2009 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.