Amygdala kindling rate is altered in rats with a deficit in the responsiveness of the hypothalamo-pituitary-adrenal axis.

Fisher and Lewis rats were amygdala kindled in the morning and in the evening. Fisher rats displayed a diurnal variation in the rate of kindling through stage 2 which did not exist in the Lewis rats. Lewis rats also take much longer to kindle through stage 2 and a subcutaneous corticosterone pellet accelerates this rate. These observations are consistent with the hypothesis that the hormones of the hypothalamo-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis, particularly the glucocorticoids, play a role in epileptogenesis.