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. 2014 Jun 30;10(3):155-61.
doi: 10.12965/jer.140110. eCollection 2014 Jun.

Treadmill exercise ameliorates disturbance of spatial learning ability in scopolamine-induced amnesia rats

Yu-Mi Heo  1 , Mal-Soon Shin  1 , Su-Hyun Kim  2 , Tae-Wook Kim  3 , Sang-Bin Baek  4 , Seung-Soo Baek  5
Affiliations

Treadmill exercise ameliorates disturbance of spatial learning ability in scopolamine-induced amnesia rats

Yu-Mi Heo et al. J Exerc Rehabil. .

Abstract

Alzheimer's disease is the most common neurodegenerative disease and this disease induces progressive loss of memory function Scopolamine is a non-selective muscarinic cholinergic receptor antagonist and it induces impairment of learning ability. Exercise is known to ameliorate memory deficits induced by various brain diseases. In the present study, we investigated the effect of treadmill exercise on spatial learning ability in relation with cell proliferation in the hippocampus using the scopolamine-induced amnesia mice. For the induction of amnesia, 1 mg/kg scopolamine hydrobromide was administered intraperitoneally once a day for 14 days. Morris water maze test for spatial learning ability was conducted. Immonofluorescence for 5-bromo-2-deoxyuri-dine (BrdU) and western blot for brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) and its receptor tyrosine kinase B (TrkB) were performed. In the present results, scopolamine-induced amnesia mice showed deterioration of spatial learning ability. Inhibition of cell proliferation and suppression of BDNF and TrkB expressions were observed in the scopolamine-induced amnesia mice. Treadmill exercise improved spatial learning ability and increased cell proliferation through activating of BDNF-TrkB pathway in the amnesia mice. These findings offer a possibility that treadmill exercise may provide preventive or therapeutic value for the memory loss induced by variable neurodegenerative diseases including Alzheimer's disease.

Keywords: Amnesia; Brain-derived neurotrophic factor; Cell proliferation; Scopolamine; Spatial learning ability; Treadmill exercise.

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Figures

Fig. 1.
Fig. 1.
Effect of treadmill exercise on spatial learning ability. (A) Control group, (B) Exercise group, (C) Scopolamine-induced amnesia group, and (D) Scopolamine-induced amnesia and exercise group. The data are presented as the mean±standard error of the mean (SEM). *P< 0.05 compared to the control group. #P< 0.05 compared to the scopolamine-induced amnesia group.
Fig. 2.
Fig. 2.
Effect of treadmill exercise on cell proliferation in the hippocampal dentate gyrus. (A) Control group, (B) Exercise group, (C) Scopolamine-induced amnesia group, and (D) Scopolamine-induced amnesia and exercise group. The scale bar represents 100 μm. The data are presented as the mean±standard error of the mean (SEM). *P < 0.05 compared to the control group. #P < 0.05 compared to the scopolamine-induced amnesia group.
Fig. 3.
Fig. 3.
Effect of treadmill exercise on brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) and tyrosine kinase B (TrkB) expressions in the hippocampus. (A) Control group, (B) Exercise group, (C) Scopolamine-induced amnesia group, and (D) Scopolamine-induced amnesia and exercise group. The data are presented as the mean± standard error of the mean (SEM). *P< 0.05 compared to the control group. #P< 0.05 compared to the scopolamine-induced amnesia group.
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