Epilepsy and exercise in females and its influence on offspring: study in an experimental model

Abstract

Combinations of antiepileptogenic and neuroprotective strategies for preventing and treating epilepsy have been investigated. In this regard, physical exercise can be a potential candidate to be integrated as complementary therapy for preventing or treating epilepsy. The beneficial effects of exercise for people with epilepsy have been increasingly reported, including reduction of seizure susceptibility, improvement of quality of life, reduction of anxiety and depression. Studies in animal models of epilepsy have investigated the mechanisms by which exercise affects this process. Despite the positive influence of physical exercise in epilepsy, there is no consistent information in the literature that these benefits are fully applied to women. This aspect is of great importance considering that reproductive and endocrine disorders are common in women with epilepsy. The purpose of the first part of this project is to evaluate the effect of aerobic exercise programs on epileptogenesis, seizure frequency, and neuromorphological and neurochemical alterations of female Wistar rats. Environmental factors such as prenatal stress in animals can induce alterations in the development of nervous system and consequently increase seizures susceptibility and the development of epilepsy of offspring in the early and later stages of life. Further, the developing brain in the postnatal period presents increased susceptibility to seizures, depending on brain development phase. Recent experimental studies have shown that exercise during fetal development can improve some brain functions of the pups after birth. Despite the beneficial effects of regular exercise in the developing brain during pregnancy, it is unclear whether physical activity and stress during pregnancy may have a neuroprotective effect after brain insult in the offspring early in life. In the second part of this project, we aim to verify whether exercise during pregnancy can alter seizures susceptibility in offspring induced in the early and later stages of life using the pentylenetetrazol model. This research can provide important information to elucidate whether regular physical activity during pregnancy and adulthood could exert a positive impact on epilepsy and be proposed as a therapeutic strategy for controlling seizures and psychosocial adjustment in females. (AU)