%0 Journal Article
%T A Single Hypoxic Event Ameliorates Pilocarpine Induced Hyperkinetic Movements in Planaria
%A Teagan Neufeld
%A Trevor N. Carniello
%A Blake T. Dotta
%J Natural Science
%P 149-156
%@ 2150-4105
%D 2022
%I Scientific Research Publishing
%R 10.4236/ns.2022.144014
%X Intermittent hypoxia or hypoxia therapy is exposing an individual to oxygenation conditions that are below atmospheric levels in a planned or acute timeframe. Hypoxia therapy is a potentially novel therapeutic strategy for a variety of pathologies including: mitochondrial disorders, exercise training, and mild cognitive impairments. Mitochondrial dysfunction, hyperkinetic movements, and cognitive impairments are hallmarks of seizures and status epilepticus (SE). A seizure can be considered uncontrolled electrical activity in the brain and SE is a seizure lasting more than 30 minutes, or multiple seizures without regaining consciousness in between. We examined the possibility of using the Pilocarpine model for seizure like activity on brown planaria <span style=\"font-family:Verdana;\">(</span><span lang=\"EN-US\" style=\"font-family: Verdana;\" color:black;\"=\"\"><i>Dugesia tigrine</i></span><span style=\"font-family:Verdana;\">)</span>. Pilocarpine is a muscarinic acetylcholine receptor agonist capable of creating seizure related brain damage. We utilized 5 mM dosages of pilocarpine and then measured open field behaviour for 3 minutes. Mobility and aversive hyperkinetic movements were observed throughout the measurement phase. After exposure to 5 mM pilocarpine, the planaria displayed behaviours consistent with seizures (e.g. aversive hyperkinetic movements and decreased mobility). Additionally, we measured the effects of an acute hypoxic event on Planaria behaviour. We used 25% carbonated water to create a hypoxic environment for the planaria and then measured mobility and hyperkinetic movements for 3 minutes. We noted that exposure to the hypoxic en-vironment produced no changes in behaviour. However, the aversive hyperkinetic move-ments produced with pilocarpine administration were completely absent when a brief (3 minutes) hypoxic episode followed the pilocarpine exposure (p &lt; 0.05). Aversive behav-iours remained present when the ordering of pilocarpine and hypoxia were counterbal-anced. This ordering effect was consistent across 40 trials. Further evaluation of the pilo-carpine seizure model and intermittent hypoxia on planarian behaviour is warranted.
%K Hypoxia
%K Pilocarpine
%K Planaria
%K Hyperkinetic Movements
%K Seizure Model
%U http://www.scirp.org/journal/PaperInformation.aspx?PaperID=116414