Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2018 Oct 31;14(5):724-730.
doi: 10.12965/jer.1836442.221. eCollection 2018 Oct.

Treadmill exercise alleviates stress-induced anxiety-like behaviors in rats

Jin-Hee Seo  1
Affiliations

Treadmill exercise alleviates stress-induced anxiety-like behaviors in rats

Jin-Hee Seo. J Exerc Rehabil. .

Abstract

Stress is the physiological responses of organisms to harmful or threatening stimuli that allow appropriate behavioral responses to the stressor. In the present study, the effect of treadmill exercise on stress-induced anxiety was evaluated using rats. To induce stress, the rats were exposed to an inescapable electric foot shock. Exposure of rats to the electric foot shock was performed for 7 days. The rats in the exercise groups were made to run on a motorized treadmill for 30 min once a day for 4 weeks stating one day after last electric food shock. Anxiety-like behaviors were determined by open field test and elevated plus-maze test. The expressions of c-Fos and neuronal nitric oxide synthase (nNOS) in the hypothalamus and locus coeruleus were detected by immunohistochemistry. In the present results, locomotor activity in the center of the open field test and the number of entries and time in the open arms of the elevated plus-maze test were reduced in the rats with stress-induced anxiety. Treadmill running enhanced these locomotor activities, the number of entries and time in the stress-induced anxiety rats. c-Fos and nNOS expressions in the hypothalamus and locus coeruleus were increased in the stress-induced rats. Treadmill exercise reduced c-Fos and nNOS overexpressions in the stress-induced rats. In the present study, treadmill exercise ameliorated anxiety-like behaviors in the stress-induced rats. The improving effect of treadmill exercise on anxiety-like behaviors might be ascribed to the suppressing effect of exercise on c-Fos and nNOS expressions.

Keywords: Anxiety; Neuronal nitric oxide synthase; Stress; Treadmill exercise; c-Fos.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

CONFLICT OF INTEREST No potential conflict of interest relevant to this article was reported.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Effect of treadmill exercise on anxiety-like behaviors in the open field test and in the elevated plus-maze test. (a) Activity in the total of the open field test. (b) Activity in the center zone of the open field test. (c) Time spent in the open arms of the elevated plus maze test. (d) The percentage in the open arm entries of the elevated plus-maze test. A, control group; B, exercise group; C, stress-induced group; D, stress-induced and exercise group. *P<0.05 compared to the control group. #P<0.05 compared to the stress-induced group.
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Effect of treadmill exercise on c-Fos expression in the hypothalamus. Upper panel: Photomicrographs of c-Fos-positive cells in the hypothalamus. The scale bars represent 50 μm. Lower panel: Number of c-Fos-positive cells in the hypothalamus. A, control group; B, exercise group; C, stress-induced group; D, stress-induced and exercise group. *P<0.05 compared to the control group. #P<0.05 compared to the stress-induced group.
Fig. 3
Fig. 3
Effect of treadmill exercise on neuronal nitric oxide synthase (nNOS) expression in the hypothalamus. Upper panel: Photomicrographs of nNOS-positive cells in the hypothalamus. The scale bars represent 50 μm. Lower panel: Number of nNOS-positive cells in the hypothalamus. A, control group; B, exercise group; C, stress-induced group; D, stress-induced and exercise group. *P<0.05 compared to the control group. #P<0.05 compared to the stress-induced group.
Fig. 4
Fig. 4
Effect of treadmill exercise on c-Fos expression in the locus coeruleus. Upper panel: Photomicrographs of c-Fos-positive cells in the locus coeruleus. The scale bars represent 50 μm. Lower panel: Number of c-Fos-positive cells in the locus coeruleus. A, control group; B, exercise group; C, stress-induced group; D, stress-induced and exercise group. *P<0.05 compared to the control group. #P<0.05 compared to the stress-induced group.
Fig. 5
Fig. 5
Effect of treadmill exercise on neuronal nitric oxide synthase (nNOS) expression in the locus coeruleus. Upper panel: Photomicrographs of nNOS-positive cells in the locus coeruleus. The scale bars represent 50 μm. Lower panel: Number of nNOS-positive cells in the locus coeruleus. A, control group; B, exercise group; C, stress-induced group; D, stress-induced and exercise group. *P<0.05 compared to the control group. #P<0.05 compared to the stress-induced group.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Adhikari A. Distributed circuits underlying anxiety. Front Behav Neurosci. 2014;8:112. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Asmundson GJ, Fetzner MG, Deboer LB, Powers MB, Otto MW, Smits JA. Let’s get physical: a contemporary review of the anxiolytic effects of exercise for anxiety and its disorders. Depress Anxiety. 2013;30:362–373. - PubMed
    1. Berridge CW, Waterhouse BD. The locus coeruleus-noradrenergic system: modulation of behavioral state and state-dependent cognitive processes. Brain Res Brain Res Rev. 2003;42:33–84. - PubMed
    1. Borodovitsyna O, Flamini MD, Chandler DJ. Acute stress persistently alters locus coeruleus function and anxiety-like behavior in adolescent rats. Neuroscience. 2018;373:7–19. - PubMed
    1. Forestiero D, Manfrim CM, Guimarães FS, de Oliveira RM. Anxiolytic-like effects induced by nitric oxide synthase inhibitors microinjected into the medial amygdala of rats. Psychopharmacology (Berl) 2006;184:166–172. - PubMed