The Effect of Moderate-Intensity Aerobic Activity on Pentylenetetrazol-Induced Epileptic Behaviors in Pregnant Mice

Epilepsy is one of the major and common neurological disorders. It has been observed that physical activity can be a complementary therapy to treat seizures. Nevertheless, studies regarding the effects of physical activity on epilepsy are largely performed on males, and there is little information on the extent of these effects in females, especially during pregnancy; since it appears that seizures during pregnancy have adverse effects on development of the offspring. The present study was designed to investigate the effect of aerobic training during pregnancy on pentylenetetrazol (PTZ)-induced seizure in mice.
The kindled female mice were divided into 4 groups; 1. the pregnant mice treated with pentylenetetrazol between the fourteenth and nineteenth days of pregnancy once in 48 hours, without physical training during the pregnancy; 2. the pregnant mice treated with pentylenetetrazol between the fourteenth and nineteenth days of pregnancy once in 48 hours, with moderate-intensity aerobic training during pregnancy between 1:00 and 3:00 p.m.; 3. the non-pregnant mice treated with pentylenetetrazol in yoked days with pregnant mice group and without physical training; and 4. the non-pregnant mice treated with pentylenetetrazol in yoked days with pregnant mice group with moderate-intensity aerobic training between 1:00 and 3:00 p.m. The seizure activity was measured for half an hour after pentylenetetrazol injection.
Findings: The aerobic training reduced seizure severity in female mice; and there was no difference in seizure severity between pregnant and non-pregnant mice.
These findings revealed that middle-intensity aerobic training could be a complementary therapeutic strategy to reduce the severity of seizure, especially in pregnancy.