Document Type : Research Paper I Open Access I Released under CC BY-NC 4.0 license
Authors
1 PhD student of University of Tehran
2 Professor, Department of Exercise Physiology, Faculty of Physical Education & Sport Sciences, University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran
3 Associated professor, Faculty of physical education and sport sciences. Tehran University, Tehran, Iran
4 Professor, Faculty of physical education and sport sciences. Tehran University, Tehran, Iran
Abstract
Introduction: The aim of this study was to evaluate eight weeks of voluntary exercise in enriched environment on the expression of PI3K, Akt, amyloid beta accumulation and cell death rate in the hippocampus of male Wistar rats with Alzheimer's disease.
Methods: 20 male rats (10-week-old) were randomly divided into four groups, including healthy control, sham, Alzheimer's control, and Alzheimer's + voluntary exercise. The voluntary training group worked in the rich environment cage for two hours a day for eight weeks. Data analysis was performed using one-way analysis of variance and Tukey's post hoc test at a significance level of P≤0.05.
Results: Voluntary exercise in the enriched environment significantly enhanced the expression of PI3K, Akt proteins and also reduced the accumulation of amyloid-β in the hippocampus region (p=0.0001). Also, the rate of cell death in the voluntary exercise group was significantly decreased compared to the Alzheimer's control group (p=0.0001).
Conclusion: It is plausible that voluntary physical activity in the enriched environment, most likely improves the regulation of PI3K and Akt protein pathways as well as suppressing the increase of amyloid-β through enhancement of insulin resistance and insulin production, and result in improving cognitive function and reducing the amount Cell death in Alzheimer's disease.
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