Exercise preconditioning exhibits neuroprotective effects on hippocampal CA1 neuronal damage after cerebral ischemia.
Recent evidence has suggested the neuroprotective effects of physical exercise on cerebral ischemic injury. However, the role of physical exercise in cerebral ischemia-induced hippocampal damage remains controversial. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the effects of pre-ischemia treadmill training on hippocampal CA1 neuronal damage after cerebral ischemia. Male adult rats were randomly divided into control, ischemia and exercise + ischemia groups. In the exercise + ischemia group, rats were subjected to running on a treadmill in a designated time schedule (5 days per week for 4 weeks). Then rats underwent cerebral ischemia induction through occlusion of common carotids followed by reperfusion. At 4 days after cerebral ischemia, rat learning and memory abilities were evaluated using passive avoidance memory test and rat hippocampal neuronal damage was detected using Nissl and TUNEL staining. Pre-ischemic exercise significantly reduced the number of TUNEL-positive cells and necrotic cell death in the hippocampal CA1 region as compared to the ischemia group. Moreover, pre-ischemic exercise significantly prevented ischemia-induced memory dysfunction. Pre-ischemic exercise mighct prevent memory deficits after cerebral ischemia through rescuing hippocampal CA1 neurons from ischemia-induced degeneration.
Department of Physical Education & Sports Science, Faculty of Literature and Humanities, Ilam University, Ilam, Iran.
Nabi
N
Shamsaei
School of Medicine, Shahroud University of Medical Sciences, Shahroud, Iran.
Mehdi
M
Khaksari
Department of Animal Physiology, Faculty of Biology, Kharazmi University, Tehran, Iran.
Sohaila
S
Erfani
Faculty of Physical Education & Sports Science, Kharazmi University, Tehran, Iran.
Hamid
H
Rajabi
Physiology Research Center and Department of Physiology, Faculty of Medicine, Iran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
Nahid
N
Aboutaleb
Nissl staining; TUNEL; apoptosis; cerebral ischemia; hippocampus; memory; nerve regeneration; neural regeneration; physical exercise