Vannucci Campos Diego, Lopim Glauber Menezes, de Almeida Vanessa Santos, Amado Débora, Arida Ricardo Mario
Departamento de Fisiologia, Universidade Federal de São Paulo (UNIFESP), São Paulo, - SP, Brazil.
Departamento de Neurologia e Neurocirurgia, Universidade Federal de São Paulo (UNIFESP), São Paulo, - SP, Brazil.
Epilepsy Behav. 2016 Nov;64(Pt A):262-267. doi: 10.1016/j.yebeh.2016.08.011. Epub 2016 Oct 22.
In epilepsy, the most common serious neurological disorder worldwide, several investigations in both humans and animals have shown the effectiveness of physical exercise programs as a complementary therapy. Among the benefits demonstrated, regular exercise can decrease the number of seizures as well as improve cardiovascular and psychological health in people with epilepsy. While many studies in animals have been performed to show the beneficial effects of exercise, they exclusively used male animals. However, females are also worthy of investigation because of their cyclical hormonal fluctuations and possible pregnancy. Considering the few animal studies concerning seizure susceptibility and exercise programs in females, this study aimed to verify whether exercise programs can interfere with seizure susceptibility induced by pilocarpine in adult female Wistar rats. Animals were randomly divided into three groups: control, forced, and voluntary (animals kept in a cage with a wheel). After the final exercise session, animals received a pilocarpine hydrochloride (350 mg/kg i.p.; Sigma) injection to induce seizures. To measure the intensity of pilocarpine-induced motor signs, we used a scale similar to that developed by Racine (1972) in the kindling model. During a 4-h period of observation, we recorded latency for first motor signs, latency for reaching SE, number of animals that developed SE, and intensity of pilocarpine-induced motor signs. No difference was observed among groups in latency for first motor signs and in the number of animals that developed SE. Although the voluntary group presented more intense motor signs, an increased latency for developing SE was observed compared with that in forced and control groups. Our behavioral results are not enough to explain physiological and molecular pathways, but there are mechanisms described in literature which may allow us to propose possible explanations. Voluntary exercise increased latency to SE development. Further investigation is necessary to elucidate the pathways involved in these results, while more studies should be performed regarding gender specific differences.
癫痫是全球最常见的严重神经系统疾病，针对人类和动物的多项研究均表明体育锻炼计划作为辅助疗法具有有效性。在已证明的益处中，规律运动可减少癫痫发作次数，并改善癫痫患者的心血管和心理健康。虽然已进行了许多动物研究来证明运动的有益效果，但这些研究仅使用了雄性动物。然而，由于雌性动物存在周期性激素波动以及可能怀孕的情况，它们同样值得研究。鉴于关于雌性动物癫痫易感性和运动计划的动物研究较少，本研究旨在验证运动计划是否会干扰毛果芸香碱诱导成年雌性Wistar大鼠的癫痫易感性。动物被随机分为三组：对照组、强迫运动组和自愿运动组（将动物饲养在带有轮子的笼子里）。在最后一次运动训练后，给动物注射盐酸毛果芸香碱（350 mg/kg腹腔注射；Sigma公司）以诱导癫痫发作。为了测量毛果芸香碱诱导的运动体征强度，我们使用了一种类似于Racine（1972年）在点燃模型中开发的量表。在4小时的观察期内，我们记录了首次出现运动体征的潜伏期、达到癫痫持续状态的潜伏期、出现癫痫持续状态的动物数量以及毛果芸香碱诱导的运动体征强度。在首次出现运动体征的潜伏期和出现癫痫持续状态的动物数量方面，各组之间未观察到差异。虽然自愿运动组的运动体征更为强烈，但与强迫运动组和对照组相比，出现癫痫持续状态的潜伏期延长。我们的行为学结果不足以解释生理和分子途径，但文献中描述的机制可能使我们能够提出可能的解释。自愿运动增加了癫痫持续状态发生的潜伏期。需要进一步研究以阐明这些结果所涉及的途径，同时应针对性别特异性差异进行更多研究。
