Prenatal topiramate exposure induced developmental changes in hippocampus and behavioral alteration in rats

The present study was taken to observe the effect of prenatal topiramate exposure on hippocampus of rats and its behavioral effects. For this study, Chances Foster female rats were divided ito 4 groups. The 1(st) group rats were given tap water and other 3 group were give topiramate in doses of 40,100 and 200mg / kg on 9-12 day of gestation. Each group was further divided into 2 part. The 1(st) part was sacrificed on 21(st) day of gestation & hippocampus was subjected to histopathological study. The 2(nd) part were allowed to deliver naturally and reared till 8 week after which they were subjected to Morris water Maze test. The histopathological study showed significant changes to ranging from cell vacuolisatlion to cell death and loss of trilaminar pattern. The Maze test showed reduced learning and memory in rats exposed to Topiramate in utero. These results show that prenatal topiramate exposure cause micro morphological changes in rat hippocampus resulting in significant behavioral alteration and therefore it should be used with caution during pregnancy.