Experimental Models of Absence Epilepsy; A Review Article

Background: Absence epilepsy is a brief non-convulsive seizure that associated with sudden abrupt in consciousness. Because of the unpredictable occurrence of absence seizures and ethic limitation of human investigation on the pathogenesis and drug assessment led to the tendency to animal models. The aim of this paper is reviewing the advantages and disadvantages of several animal models of non-convulsive induced seizure. Methods: The articles were published from years of 1990 were assessed. The number of publications used genetic animals was analyzed. In addition, we reviewed possible application methods of each model, clinical types of seizures induced, purposed mechanism of epileptogenesis, validity and attributable to the absence epileptic patients. Results: The number of studies that used genetic models of absence epilepsy from years of 2000 was noticeably more than pharmacological models. Genetic animal models have a close correlation of electroencephalogram features and epileptic behaviors to the human condition. Conclusion: The validity of genetic models of absence epilepsy would motivate the researches to focus on genetic modes in their studies. As there are some differences in the pathophysiology of absence epilepsy between animal models and human, to better understand the epileptogenic process and, or discovery of novel therapies for this disorder, development of new animal models is necessary.