Pilocarpine-induced status epilepticus reduces chemosensory control of breathing.

Pilocarpine-induced status epilepticus reduces chemosensory control of breathing. Brain Res Bull. 2020 May 17;: Authors: Maia OAC, Malheiros-Lima MR, Oliveira MA, Castro CL, Moriya HT, Tavares-de-Lima W, Takakura AC, Moreira TS Abstract One of the possible causes of death in epilepsy is breathing disorders, especially apneas, which lead to an increase in CO2 levels (hypercapnia) and/or a decrease in O2 levels in arterial blood (hypoxemia). The respiratory neurons located in the ventral brainstem respiratory column are the main groups responsible for controlling breathing. Recent data from our group demonstrated respiratory changes in two experimental models of epilepsy, i.e audiogenic epilepsy, and amygdala rapid kindling. Here, we aimed to evaluate respiratory changes in the classic model of temporal lobe epilepsy induced by intra-hippocampal injection of pilocarpine. Adult Wistar rats with stainless-steel cannulas implanted in the hippocampus region were used. The animals were submitted to pilocarpine injection (2.4 mg/μL, N = 12-15) or saline (N = 9) into the hippocampus. The respiratory parameters analyzed by whole-body plethysmography were respiratory rate (fR), tidal volume (VT) and ventilation (VE). Respiratory mechanics such as Newtonian airway resistance (Rn), viscance of the pulmonary parenchyma (G) and the elastance of the pulmonary parenchyma (H) were also investigated. No changes in baseline breathing were det...
Source: Brain Research Bulletin - Category: Neurology Authors: Tags: Brain Res Bull Source Type: research