All animal experiments were approved by the Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee and carried out in strict accordance with AAALAC regulations, the US Department of Agriculture Animal Welfare Act, and the Guide for the Care and Use of Laboratory Animals of the NIH. After arrival in the animal facility, female Wistar Unilever rats (180–200 g, 8–10 weeks, Charles River Laboratories, Portage, MI, USA) were housed under controlled environmental conditions (22–24 °C, 40% relative humidity, 12 h dark/light cycle) with free access to tap water and standard Laboratory Rodent Diet 5001 (LabDiet, Richmond, IN, USA). Animals were allowed to adapt to the new environment for at least 1 week before experiments. All epileptic animals were monitored three times daily: once in the morning and once in the evening by laboratory staff, and once during the day by animal facility staff.
Epileptic animals that displayed symptoms that went beyond of exhibiting regular seizures were monitored more closely and obtained individualized care. Specifically, animals that lost weight were given Critical Care animal feed (Oxbow Animal Health, Murdock, NE, USA). Animals that did not recover and kept losing weight were euthanized by CO2 inhalation followed by decapitation. At the end of the experiments, all rats were euthanized by CO2 inhalation followed by decapitation.
Epileptic animals that displayed symptoms that went beyond of exhibiting regular seizures were monitored more closely and obtained individualized care. Specifically, animals that lost weight were given Critical Care animal feed (Oxbow Animal Health, Murdock, NE, USA). Animals that did not recover and kept losing weight were euthanized by CO2 inhalation followed by decapitation. At the end of the experiments, all rats were euthanized by CO2 inhalation followed by decapitation.