Absence seizures are associated with generalised synchronous 2.5-4 Hz spike-wave discharges causing brief and sudden alteration of awareness during childhood, which is known as childhood absence epilepsy (CAE). CAE is also associated with impaired learning, psychosocial challenges, and physical danger. Absence seizures arise from disturbances within the cortico-thalamocortical (CTC) network, including dysfunctional feed-forward inhibition (FFI); however, the precise mechanisms remain unclear. In epileptic stargazers, a genetic mouse model of CAE with chronic seizures, levels of γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA), and expression of GABA receptors are altered within the CTC network, implicating altered GABAergic transmission in absence seizures. However, the expression of GABA synthesising enzymes (GAD65 and GAD67) and GABA transporters (GAT-1 and 3) have not yet been characterised within absence seizure models. We found a specific upregulation of GAD65 in the somatosensory cortex but not the thalamus of epileptic stargazer mice. No differences were detected in GAD67 and GAT-3 levels in the thalamus or somatosensory cortex. Then, we assessed if GAD65 upregulation also occurred in Gi-DREADD mice exhibiting acute absence seizures, but we found no change in the expression profiles of GAD65/67 or GAT-3. Thus, the upregulation of GAD65 in stargazers may be a compensatory mechanism in response to long-term dysfunctional FFI and chronic absence seizures.
Keywords: GABA transporters; GAD isoforms; absence epilepsy; feed-forward inhibition; inhibitory DREADD; stargazers.