AE mice: an inbred mouse strain with interesting features for epilepsy research.

Spontaneous clonic-tonic seizures were occasionally observed in inbred AE mice of both sexes. Determination of seizure thresholds in this strain showed that both female and male AE mice had electroconvulsive thresholds that were markedly lower than those of other strains of mice, whereas susceptibility to seizures induced by pentylenetetrazol was not increased. The antiepileptic drug phenobarbital was much less effective in blocking electroconvulsions in AE mice than in other strains. Similarly, valproic acid was less effective in protecting against pentylenetetrazol-induced seizures. These differences in anticonvulsant efficacy could be explained only partly by differences in pharmacokinetics, thus indicating a lower responsiveness of AE mice to antiepileptic drugs. Determination of the GABA-synthesizing enzyme glutamic decarboxylase in different brain regions showed no significant difference between AE mice and normal NMRI mice except for a lower GAD activity in corpus striatum of male AE mice. The data indicate that AE mice may be an interesting new genetic model of epilepsy.