acth and low melanocortin-2 receptor expression inhibit infantile spasm (is) seizures in prenatal stress (ps) exposed rats

Background: infantile spasm (is) is a catastrophic epileptic syndrome of childhood and is usually insensitive to conventional antiepileptic drugs. studies revealed that prenatal stress (ps) exposure and melanocortin-2 receptor (mc2r) may be involved in the pathogenesis of is. however, the exact mechanism still remains unknown. methods: in this study, ps was initially given to wistar rats and acth injection was performed in offsprings. seizure was then induced and evaluated, followed by mc2r immunohistochemistry and expression detection. results: significant differences in seizure number, mc2r and crh expressions were observed among different subgroups. conclusions: our study suggested that ps exposure may be an important factor in the pathogenesis of is. acth together with low expression of mc2r, may inhibit is seizures.