Authors :
First Author: Ricardo Arida, PhD – Federal University of Sao Paulo
Presenting Author: Glauber Lopim, PhD – Faculdade Ceres de Medicina/ Uniterp - FACTERP
Glauber Lopim, PhD – Professor, Faculdade Uniterp-Facterp - Faculdade Faceres; Lavinia Teixeira-Machado, PhD – Professor, Education in Health Department, Federal University of Sergipe; Robson Gutierre, PhD – Orthopedics – Federal University of Sao Paulo; Antônio Coppi, PhD – Professor, Veterinary Clinical Anatomy, Bristol University; Eduardo Silva, PhD student – Physiology – Federal University of Sao Paulo
Rationale: Experimental studies have indicated aerobic exercise as a complementary therapy to reduce
brain susceptibility to seizures or prevent epilepsy. Although the beneficial effects of aerobic exercise in this condition have been highlighted, it is not well clarified whether a strength exercise can provide similar benefits. This work aimed to verify whether a resistance exercise (also known as resistance training or weight lifting) program before the initial insult induce by pentylenetetrazol (PTZ) minimizes seizure susceptibility in adult rats. Methods: Young adult rats
(60 days old) were divided into control (n=15) and strength exercise (n=13) groups. The training protocol consisted of animals subjected to a ladder climbing for eight weeks with weights attached to their tails. After two months of strength exercise, the animals of both groups received a unique dose of PTZ (35mg/kg, i.p.). The time (in seconds) to PTZ-induced motor symptoms and the number of animals reaching the stages of modified Racine scale were video-monitored and analyzed for 30 minutes.Results: No significant difference was observed among groups in latency for first motor signs and in the number of animals to reach stages one, two, and three of the Racine scale. However, a reduced number of animals from the training exercise group evolved to stage four compared to the control group (p=0.016). Both trained and control groups did not reach stage five of the Racine scale.
Conclusions: Our preliminary results demonstrate that a strength exercise program before a precipitating brain insult induced by PTZ can reduce seizure susceptibility. Our findings provide further evidence that exercise protects against brain insults.
Funding:
Funding: CAPES-PRINT #88881.310490/2018-01, CNPq #302689/2022-2), FAPESP # 2022/10696-1.