A Fazeli Sani; hasan Matinhomaee; A Banaeifar
Abstract
Aim: The aim of the present study was to investigate the effect of 4 weeks of aerobic exercise on cognitive function and mitochondrial dynamics in the hippocampal tissue of male Wistar ...
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Aim: The aim of the present study was to investigate the effect of 4 weeks of aerobic exercise on cognitive function and mitochondrial dynamics in the hippocampal tissue of male Wistar rats with Alzheimer's disease.Methods: For this purpose, 21 male Wistar rats at 20 months of age were randomly divided into 3 groups: Alzheimer's disease (n = 7), Alzheimer's disease + aerobic exercise (n = 7) and control group (n = 7). Alzheimer's disease was induced by intrahippocampal injection of Aβ42 (1 microliter per side). Seven days after surgery, the exercise group performed 4 weeks of treadmill training (5 days per week at a speed of 10 to 15 m/min). Forty-eight hours after the last training session, the animals underwent behavioral tests. Twenty-four hours after the behavioral test, all rats were killed and hippocampal tissue was extracted. The mRNA expression of OPA1, Mfn2 and Drp1 genes was assayed using Real Time-PCR. One-way analysis of variance was used for statistical analysis.Ethical Considerations: All stages of the study were conducted according to the ethical guidelines and authorization of Research Deputy of Islamic Azad University, Central Tehran Branch No. IR.IAU.TMU.REC.1399.124.Results: The results showed that spatial learning (P ≤ 0.001) and memory performance (P ≤ 0.001) as well as the gene expression of OPA1 (P ≤ 0.001) and Mfn2 (P ≤ 0.001) in animals with Alzheimer's disease decreased compared to the control group, while the gene expression of Drp1 increased (P ≤ 0.001). Aerobic exercise in patient animals improved spatial learning (P ≤ 0.001) and memory performance (P ≤ 0.001), increased hippocampal OPA1 (P ≤ 0.001) and Mfn2 (P ≤ 0.001) genes expression, and decreased Drp1 gene expression compared with Alzheimer's disease group (P ≤ 0.001).Conclusion: In general, it seems that aerobic exercise can improve spatial learning and memory performance in Alzheimer's disease by modulating abnormal mitochondrial dynamics.
