Assessment of cardiac structure and function in a murine model of temporal lobe epilepsy

•The relationship between sudden unexpected death in epilepsy (SUDEP) and cardiac pathology is unsettled.•The intracortical kainate mouse model of temporal lobe epilepsy opens for detailed studies on both acute and long-term effects of epilepsy.•In the intracortical kainate mouse model of TLE, cardiac function and anatomy are unchanged after 48 h and 30 days, respectively. Sudden unexpected death in epilepsy (SUDEP) is a significant cause of premature seizure-related death. An association between SUDEP and cardiac remodeling has been suggested. However, whether SUDEP is a direct consequence of acute or recurrent seizures is unsettled. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the impact of status epilepticus (SE) and chronic seizures on myocardial structure and function. We used the intracortical kainate injection model of temporal lobe epilepsy to elicit SE and chronic epilepsy in mice. In total, 24 C57/BL6 mice (13 kainate, 11 sham) were studied 2 and 30 days post-injection. Cardiac structure and function were investigated in-vivo with a 9.4 T MRI, electrocardiography (ECG), echocardiography, and histology [Haematoxylin/Eosin (HE) and Martius Scarlet Blue (MSB)] for staining of collagen proliferation and fibrin accumulation. In conclusion, we did not detect any significant changes in cardiac structure and function neither in mice 2 days nor 30 days post-injection.