Effect of physical exercise on seizure occurrence in a model of temporal lobe epilepsy in rats

Although the favorable effect of physical fitness on general health is unqu estionable, physical exercise and fitness programs in patients with epileps y are still a matter of controversy. Little objective evidence regarding th e effect of exercise on seizure frequency and severity has been reported. O ne sought to clarify the relationship between exercise and epilepsy in an a nimal model of temporal lobe epilepsy (the pilocarpine model of epilepsy). To evaluate the effect of an aerobic physical program on seizure frequency, 29 epileptic animals were continuously monitored during 24 h for 135 days after the first spontaneous recurrent seizure (SRS) and divided into three groups. The first group (N = 14) was submitted to an aerobic exercise progr am (training group). The second group (N = 7) was maintained in the treadmi ll for the same time as the training group without being submitted to physi cal exercise (sham group). The third group (N = 8) served as control. The b ehavioral observation was divided in three periods of 45 days. The first pe riod was used to determine the number of seizures before physical training program. The second period was utilized to determine the number of seizures during the physical training program. The third period was used to analyze the frequency of seizures after the physical training program. The mean fr equency of seizures in the control and sham groups increased significantly from period 1 to period 2 and from period 1 to period 3. However, in the tr aining group, the frequency of seizures did not change significantly betwee n the three periods of 45 days of observation. When the same periods of the three groups were analyzed together, a significant reduction in seizure fr equency was observed comparing the training group with the control and sham groups during the period of physical training. The data presented in this study suggest that physical exercise is not a seizure-inducing factor in th is experimental model of epilepsy. (C) 1999 Elsevier Science B.V. All right s reserved.