Purpose: Hippocampal deep brain stimulation (DBS) is an experimental therapy for patients with pharmacoresistant temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE). Despite the successful clinical application of DBS, the optimal stimulation parameters are undetermined. We evaluate the efficacy of a new form of DBS, using continuous stimuli with Poisson distributed intervals (Poisson distributed stimulation, PDS) in the kainate (KA) rat model, a validated model for human TLE. Methods: Status epilepticus was elicited by injection of KA (i.p.). After development of spontaneous seizures, rats were implanted with hippocampal DBS- and depth electroencephalography (EEG) electrodes. After baseline EEG monitoring, one group of rats (n = 13) was treated with PDS and a second (n = 11) received regular high frequency stimulation (HFS) at 130 Hz. Stimulation intensity was 100 mu A below the threshold for induction of epileptiform EEG activity. Results: Stimulation intensity was significantly lower for PDS (156 +/- 20 mu A) than HFS (207 +/- 23 mu A; p