# Penetrating brain injury and copper fragments in a rat model of posttraumatic Epilepsy

> **NIH NIH R21** · UTAH STATE HIGHER EDUCATION SYSTEM--UNIVERSITY OF UTAH · 2022 · $422,698

## Abstract

Project Summary
Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is a major neurological problem for both civilians and military personnel, and one of
the most devastating outcomes is posttraumatic epilepsy (PTE). Several types of animal models have been
developed to attempt to replicate the major features of TBI and PTE. Many research groups have attempted to
use these animal models in rodents to study PTE, but we and several other groups have found that only a
small fraction of brain-injured rodents actually develop genuine spontaneous recurrent seizures, which are the
hallmark of PTE. Actually, many clinical reports of retrospective studies of PTE, including the classical work of
Annegers and coworkers (1998), have found only a small fraction of the many patients who have experienced
TBI actually develop PTE; however, for those individuals it can be profoundly debilitating. The experiments in
this research proposal aim to modify one of these animal models, controlled cortical impact (CCI), in a manner
to make it include a simulation of a penetrating TBI with small metal fragments, as would occur with a gunshot
wound or a missile injury from an explosion. Our preliminary studies strongly suggest that combining a CCI-
injury with copper fragments converts it from one with a relatively small number of seizures to one where most
animals have spontaneous recurrent seizures and they occur at a relatively high frequency. Our proposed
experiments aim to test the hypothesis that a TBI with copper fragments, as would occur in a modern gunshot
wound to the head, greatly enhances the spontaneous recurrent seizures in the CCI model of TBI. These
studies would not only provide critical new insights into what characteristics of the TBI actually underlie some
devastating forms of PTE, but would also provide the framework for future modifications of animal models of
TBI to allow us to provide better symptomatic treatment of the spontaneous seizures, and to find better
therapies to block the development of posttraumatic epileptogenesis.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10528180
- **Project number:** 1R21NS123583-01A1
- **Recipient organization:** UTAH STATE HIGHER EDUCATION SYSTEM--UNIVERSITY OF UTAH
- **Principal Investigator:** F. Edward DUDEK
- **Activity code:** R21 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2022
- **Award amount:** $422,698
- **Award type:** 1
- **Project period:** 2022-06-01 → 2026-05-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10528180

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10528180, Penetrating brain injury and copper fragments in a rat model of posttraumatic Epilepsy (1R21NS123583-01A1). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-27 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10528180. Licensed CC0.

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