Long-term potentiation in autonomic ganglia: Potential role in cardiovascular disorders

Figure 1 The hypothesis: In the whole animal, epileptic seizures provide the repetitive stimulation required for the expression of ganglionic long-term potentiation in sympathetic ganglia, resulting in increased peripheral resistance, hypertension and cardiopulmonary dysregulation leading to sudden death. Blocking serotonin 5-HT₃ receptor with antagonist (Zofran©) in ganglia has been shown to obviate the effect of gLTP. gLTP: Ganglionic long-term potentiation; CNS: Central nervous system; SUDEP: Sudden unexpected death in epilepsy.