BACKGROUND: Structural and functional synaptic changes, as well as blood-brain barrier (BBB) changes, affect the micro-environment of nervous tissue and excitation, both of which play an important role in epilepsy.OBJECTIVE: To observe synaptic and BBB ultrastructural changes in the motor cortex of a rat epilepsy model induced by coriaria lacton, and to investigate the synaptic and BBB effects on the mechanism of epilepsy.DESIGN: A randomized controlled animal experiment.SETTING: Department of Histology and Embryology, Luzhou Medical College; and Electron Microscopy Laboratory, Luzhou Medical College.MATERIALS: Twenty healthy male Sprague Dawley rats, aged 8 weeks, were chosen for this study. The rats weighed (280 ± 50) g and were supplied by the Experimental Animal Center of Luzhou Medical College. Experimentation was performed in accordance with the ethical guidelines for the use and care of animals. The animals were randomly divided into a control group and an epilepsy group, with 10 rats in each group. METHODS: This study was performed at the Department of Histology and Embryology, and Electron Microscopy Laboratory, Luzhou Medical College between February and December 2006. According to the protocol, the epilepsy group was injected with 10 μL/100 g coriaria lacton into the lateral ventricles to establish an epileptic model. The control group rats were not administered anything. Eight days after the model was established, all rats were anesthetized with ether. The motor cortex was removed and sectioned into ultrathin sections. Synaptic and BBB ultrastructural changes were observed by electron microscopy. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: ①Structural changes of three different parts of the synapses, synaptic cleft width, postsynaptic density thickness, proportion of perforation synapses, curvature of synaptic interface, and length of active zones. ②Capillary and BBB changes (endothelium, basement membrane, pericyte, and the astrocyte endfeet).RESULTS: ①Curvature of synaptic interface, length of active zones, thickness of postsynaptic density, and percentage of perforation synapses increased significantly. ②There was significant edema in the endothelium, basement membrane, and the pericyte of the epilepsy group; the electron density of the basement membrane was reduced.CONCLUSION: ①The coriaria lacton treatment altered synaptic ultrastructure, as well as BBB characteristics, in the epileptic rat model, and also improved synaptic transmission efficiency, as well as BBB permeability; ②Synaptic and BBB ultrastructural changes might play an important role in the mechanism of epilepsy.