Epilepsy and exercise: An experimental study in female rats

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• 作者：Diego Vannucci Campos^a ; Glauber Menezes Lopim^a ; Daiana Aparecida da Silva^b ; Alexandre Aparecido de Almeida^a ; Debora Amado^c ; Ricardo Mario Arida^a ; ^{arida.nexp@epm.br}
• 关键词：Epilepsy ; Exercise ; Female ; Estrous cycle ; Rats ; Hormones
• 刊名：Physiology & Behavior
• 出版年：2017
• 出版时间：15 March 2017
• 年：2017
• 卷：171
• 期：Complete
• 页码：120-126
• 全文大小：637 K
• 卷排序：171

文摘

Epilepsy is the most common neurological chronic condition worldwide, affecting about 2% of world population. Temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE) reaches 40% of all cases of this condition, and it is highly refractory to pharmacological treatment. Physical activity has been suggested as complementary therapy for epilepsy. However, there is no consistent information whether all these effects are plenty applicable to females, since clinical and experimental studies concerning physical exercise and epilepsy are largely performed in males. Females are worthy of special attention due to gender specific particularities such as hormonal cyclical rhythm and possible pregnancy. Therefore, this study aimed to investigate the impact of two types of exercise programs (Forced and Voluntary) in female Wistar rats submitted to temporal lobe epilepsy induced by pilocarpine.MethodsAnimals were divided into four groups: Control (healthy), Epilepsy, Epilepsy/Forced (exercise in a treadmill) and Epilepsy/Voluntary (free access to wheel). Behavioral and histological analyses were evaluated among groups.ResultsVoluntary exercise was able to reduce seizure frequency and anovulatory estrous cycle occurrence. Yet, both types of exercise attenuated the mossy fiber sprouting in dentate gyrus.ConclusionOur results indicate that voluntary exercise exerts a positive effect on epilepsy in female gender. Further investigations are necessary to better elucidate mechanisms involved in these responses, since these effects do not act in the same manner in male and female rats.