Respiratory pattern in a rat model of epilepsy.

PURPOSE: Apnea is known to occur during seizures, but systematic studies of ictal respiratory changes in adults are few. Data regarding respiratory pattern defects during interictal periods also are scarce. Here we sought to generate information with regard to the interictal period in animals with pilocarpine-induced epilepsy.
METHODS: Twelve rats (six chronically epileptic animals and six controls) were anesthetized, given tracheotomies, and subjected to hyperventilation or hypoventilation conditions. Breathing movements caused changes in thoracic volume and forced air to flow tidally through a pneumotachograph. This flow was measured by using a differential pressure transducer, passed through a polygraph, and from this to a computer with custom software that derived ventilation (VE), tidal volume (VT), inspiratory time (TI), expiratory time (TE), breathing frequency (f), and mean inspiratory flow (VT/TI) on a breath-by-breath basis.
RESULTS: The hyperventilation maneuver caused a decrease in spontaneous ventilation in pilocarpine-treated and control rats. Although VE had a similar decrease in both groups, in the epileptic group, the decrease in VE was due to a significant (p < 0.05) increase in TE peak in relation to that of the control animals. The hypoventilation maneuver led to an increase in the arterial Paco2, followed by an increase in VE. In the epileptic group, the increase in VE was mediated by a significant (p < 0.05) decrease in TE peak compared with the control group. Systemic application of KCN, to evaluate the effects of peripheral chemoreception activation on ventilation, led to a similar increase in VE for both groups.
CONCLUSIONS: The data indicate that pilocarpine-treated animals have an altered ability to react to (or compensate for) blood gas changes with changes in ventilation and suggest that it is centrally determined. We speculate on the possible relation of the current findings on treating different epilepsy-associated conditions.