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The present studies characterize working memory capabilities in the El mouse model of epilepsy using a species-typical social recognition memory task. As the El mouse exhibits a stress hyper-reactivity phenotype, the impact of hypertonic saline consumption, a memory modulatory treatment, upon social recognition performance was also examined. The hypotheses under test were: (1) that seizure susceptible El mice would perform poorly in the short-term working memory task relative to seizure resistant ddY controls, and (2) that the behavioral and neural responses to stressor exposure would be atypical in El mice. Results revealed a short-term working memory deficit and altered reactivity to social, environmental, and physiological stressors in El mice. In Experiment 1, El mice exhibited poor sociability and decreased olfactory investigation times, both anxiogenic-like traits, compared to ddY controls. In Experiment 2, El mice exhibited poor working memory performance compared to capable performance in ddY controls. Social recognition memory in ddY mice was abolished, however, by salt-loading whereas El mice were unaffected by exposure to this physiological stressor. In Experiment 3, all salt-loaded mice exhibited enhanced brain stress neuropeptide (corticotropin releasing factor-CRF) content, and salt-loaded El mice exhibited a 70% reduction in handling-induced seizures. These findings suggest that El mice exhibit high emotionality as well as atypical reactions to stressor exposure, and that these characteristics impact social working memory performance and seizure susceptibility.

RATIONALE: Current SCIT regimens have wide variability in practice styles and dosing strategies. Most medications require pediatric clinical studies to determine appropriate doses for children. No similar guidelines exist for SCIT. The objective of this study was to describe factors influencing systemic reactions in our study population and to provide preliminary descriptive statistics. METHODS: We conducted a retrospective chart review to record the number of systemic reactions (SR) to SCIT. We used a generalized linear mixed model to examine variables of interest. Crude incidence rate was estimated as number of SRs relative to total injections administered. RESULTS: Of 120 pediatric and 150 adult subjects, there was a significantly higher proportion of males (63% vs 40%; p<0.0001) and subjects with asthma (62.5% vs 46%; p<0.0072) in the pediatric group than the adult group. There was no difference in asthma classification between age groups (intermittent: 29.33% vs 39.13%; p<0.2241; persistent: 70.67% vs 60.87%; p<0.2241). Of 132 reactions, 75 SRs occurred in the pediatric group; 57 SRs occurred in the adult group. The majority of reactions were grades 1 or 2 (83.3%) and more likely to occur in the pediatric group. Reactions occurred more in spring and autumn (35 each) than summer and winter (31 each). Incidence rate (crude) for any SR was 0.2%. CONCLUSIONS: Our results suggest that current allergen SCIT practices are associated with a higher rate of SRs in children. These results provide a foundation for future studies to evaluate factors that may influence practice guidelines for the safe administration of SCIT in children.