title: Relationships of peripheral IGF-1, VEGF and BDNF levels to exercise-related changes in memory, hippocampal perfusion and volumes in older adults.
abstract: Animal models point towards a key role of brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), insulin-like growth factor-I (IGF-I) and vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) in mediating exercise-induced structural and functional changes in the hippocampus. Recently, also platelet derived growth factor-C (PDGF-C) has been shown to promote blood vessel growth and neuronal survival. Moreover, reductions of these neurotrophic and angiogenic factors in old age have been related to hippocampal atrophy, decreased vascularization and cognitive decline. In a 3-month aerobic exercise study, forty healthy older humans (60 to 77years) were pseudo-randomly assigned to either an aerobic exercise group (indoor treadmill, n=21) or to a control group (indoor progressive-muscle relaxation/stretching, n=19). As reported recently, we found evidence for fitness-related perfusion changes of the aged human hippocampus that were closely linked to changes in episodic memory function. Here, we test whether peripheral levels of BDNF, IGF-I, VEGF or PDGF-C are related to changes in hippocampal blood flow, volume and memory performance. Growth factor levels were not significantly affected by exercise, and their changes were not related to changes in fitness or perfusion. However, changes in IGF-I levels were positively correlated with hippocampal volume changes (derived by manual volumetry and voxel-based morphometry) and late verbal recall performance, a relationship that seemed to be independent of fitness, perfusion or their changes over time. These preliminary findings link IGF-I levels to hippocampal volume changes and putatively hippocampus-dependent memory changes that seem to occur over time independently of exercise. We discuss methodological shortcomings of our study and potential differences in the temporal dynamics of how IGF-1, VEGF and BDNF may be affected by exercise and to what extent these differences may have led to the negative findings reported here.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Cognitive Neurology and Dementia Research, Otto-von-Guericke University Magdeburg, Leipziger Str. 44, 39120 Magdeburg, Germany; German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases (DZNE), Leipziger Str. 44, 39120 Magdeburg, Germany. Electronic address: anne.maass@med.ovgu.de.
authors.forename: Anne
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Maass
authors.affiliation: Center for Lifespan Psychology, Max Planck Institute for Human Development, Lentzeallee 94, 14195 Berlin, Germany.
authors.forename: Sandra
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Düzel
authors.affiliation: Institute of Physiology, Otto-von-Guericke-University Magdeburg, Leipziger Str. 44, 39120 Magdeburg, Germany; Center for Behavioral Brain Sciences, Otto-von-Guericke University Magdeburg, Universitätsplatz 2, 39106 Magdeburg, Germany.
authors.forename: Tanja
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Brigadski
authors.affiliation: German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases (DZNE), Leipziger Str. 44, 39120 Magdeburg, Germany; Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University of Rostock, 18147 Rostock, Germany.
authors.forename: Monique
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Goerke
authors.affiliation: German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases (DZNE), Leipziger Str. 44, 39120 Magdeburg, Germany.
authors.forename: Andreas
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Becke
authors.affiliation: German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases (DZNE), Leipziger Str. 44, 39120 Magdeburg, Germany.
authors.forename: Uwe
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Sobieray
authors.affiliation: Institute of Cognitive Neurology and Dementia Research, Otto-von-Guericke University Magdeburg, Leipziger Str. 44, 39120 Magdeburg, Germany; German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases (DZNE), Leipziger Str. 44, 39120 Magdeburg, Germany.
authors.forename: Katja
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Neumann
authors.affiliation: Center for Lifespan Psychology, Max Planck Institute for Human Development, Lentzeallee 94, 14195 Berlin, Germany; Aging Research Center, Karolinska Institutet & Stockholm University, Gävlegatan 16, SE-113 30 Stockholm, Sweden.
authors.forename: Martin
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Lövdén
authors.affiliation: Center for Lifespan Psychology, Max Planck Institute for Human Development, Lentzeallee 94, 14195 Berlin, Germany; European University Institute, Badia Fiesolana, Via dei Roccettini 9, 50014 San Domenico di Fiesole, Italy; Max Planck UCL Centre for Computational Psychiatry and Ageing Research, Lentzeallee 94, 14195 Berlin, Germany.
authors.forename: Ulman
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Lindenberger
authors.affiliation: Aging Research Center, Karolinska Institutet & Stockholm University, Gävlegatan 16, SE-113 30 Stockholm, Sweden.
authors.forename: Lars
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Bäckman
authors.affiliation: Department of Internal Medicine, Division of Cardiology, Angiology and Pneumology, Otto-von-Guericke University Magdeburg, Leipziger Str. 44, 39120 Magdeburg, Germany.
authors.forename: Rüdiger
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Braun-Dullaeus
authors.affiliation: Department of Internal Medicine, Division of Cardiology, Angiology and Pneumology, Otto-von-Guericke University Magdeburg, Leipziger Str. 44, 39120 Magdeburg, Germany.
authors.forename: Dörte
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Ahrens
authors.affiliation: German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases (DZNE), Leipziger Str. 44, 39120 Magdeburg, Germany; Center for Behavioral Brain Sciences, Otto-von-Guericke University Magdeburg, Universitätsplatz 2, 39106 Magdeburg, Germany; Department of Neurology, Otto-von-Guericke-University Magdeburg, Leipziger Str. 44, 39120 Magdeburg, Germany; Leibniz Institute for Neurobiology, Brenneckestr. 6, 39118 Magdeburg, Germany.
authors.forename: Hans-Jochen
authors.initials: HJ
authors.lastname: Heinze
authors.affiliation: German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases (DZNE), Leipziger Str. 44, 39120 Magdeburg, Germany.
authors.forename: Notger G
authors.initials: NG
authors.lastname: Müller
authors.affiliation: Institute of Physiology, Otto-von-Guericke-University Magdeburg, Leipziger Str. 44, 39120 Magdeburg, Germany; Center for Behavioral Brain Sciences, Otto-von-Guericke University Magdeburg, Universitätsplatz 2, 39106 Magdeburg, Germany.
authors.forename: Volkmar
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Lessmann
authors.affiliation: Institute of Clinical Neurobiology, University Hospital Wuerzburg, Versbacherstr. 5, 97078 Würzburg, Germany.
authors.forename: Michael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Sendtner
authors.affiliation: Institute of Cognitive Neurology and Dementia Research, Otto-von-Guericke University Magdeburg, Leipziger Str. 44, 39120 Magdeburg, Germany; German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases (DZNE), Leipziger Str. 44, 39120 Magdeburg, Germany; Center for Behavioral Brain Sciences, Otto-von-Guericke University Magdeburg, Universitätsplatz 2, 39106 Magdeburg, Germany; Department of Neurology, Otto-von-Guericke-University Magdeburg, Leipziger Str. 44, 39120 Magdeburg, Germany; Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience, University College London, 17 Queen Square, London, UK. Electronic address: emrah.duezel@dzne.de.
authors.forename: Emrah
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Düzel
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000375:Aging / Q000502:physiology; D001783:Blood Flow Velocity / Q000502:physiology; D019208:Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor / Q000097:blood*; D002560:Cerebrovascular Circulation / Q000502:physiology*; D015444:Exercise / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D006624:Hippocampus / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D007334:Insulin-Like Growth Factor I / Q000378:metabolism*; D008297:Male; D008568:Memory / Q000502:physiology*; D008875:Middle Aged; D009473:Neuronal Plasticity / Q000502:physiology; D009929:Organ Size / Q000502:physiology; D064797:Physical Conditioning, Human / Q000379:methods; D010809:Physical Fitness / Q000502:physiology; D042461:Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor A / Q000097:blood*
chemical_list: D019208:Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor; D042461:Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor A; D007334:Insulin-Like Growth Factor I; C579455:BDNF protein, human
keywords: Aging; Exercise; Hippocampus; Neurotrophic factors; Vascular plasticity