Behavioral abnormalities and seizure susceptibility in rat after neonatal anoxia.

Wistar rat pups were exposed to 99.99%-nitrogen gas for 10 minutes at 4 days of age, and then their behavior and susceptibility to pentylentetrazol (PTZ) induced seizure were investigated at the ages of 28 and 56 days. Neonatal anoxic rats exhibited hyperactivity in the open field examination and motor coordination disturbance in the inclined screen test, hyperirritability to the startle response and high susceptibility to PTZ at the age of 28 days. However, these behavioral changes and high susceptibility to PTZ were improved with development and there were no longer significant difference from controls rats at 56 days of age except the wire maneuver test. These results suggested that neonatal total anoxia could produce transient dysfunction of the developing brain, including increased susceptibility to seizure and behavioral abnormalities.