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. 2023 Nov 20;13(11):1622.
doi: 10.3390/jpm13111622.

Analysis of Effect of Intensity of Aerobic Exercise on Cognitive and Motor Functions and Neurotrophic Factor Expression Patterns in an Alzheimer's Disease Rat Model

Do-Youn Lee  1 , Sang-Cheol Im  1 , Na-Yeon Kang  1 , Kyoung Kim  1
Affiliations

Analysis of Effect of Intensity of Aerobic Exercise on Cognitive and Motor Functions and Neurotrophic Factor Expression Patterns in an Alzheimer's Disease Rat Model

Do-Youn Lee et al. J Pers Med. .

Abstract

The effect of aerobic exercise at different intensities on Alzheimer's disease (AD) still remains unclear. We investigated the effect of aerobic exercise at different intensities on cognitive and motor functions and neurotrophic factor expression. Thirty-two AD-induced rats were randomly assigned to control (CG), low-intensity (Group I), medium-intensity (Group II), and high-intensity (Group III) exercise groups. Each group, except for the CG, performed aerobic exercise for 20 min a day five times a week. After performing aerobic exercise for 4 weeks, their cognitive and motor functions and neurotrophic factor expression patterns were analyzed and compared between the groups. All variables of cognitive and motor functions and neurotrophic factor expression were significantly improved in Groups I, II, and III compared to those in the CG (p < 0.05). Among the neurotrophic factors, brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) expression was significantly improved in Group III compared to that in Groups I and II (p < 0.05). In the intra-group comparison of cognitive and motor functions, no significant difference was observed in CG, but the aerobic exercise groups showed improvements. Only Group III showed a significant improvement in the time it took to find eight food items accurately (p < 0.05). Aerobic exercise improved the cognitive and motor functions and neurotrophic factor expression patterns in the AD-induced rat model, with high-intensity aerobic exercise having greater effects on cognitive function and BDNF expression.

Keywords: Alzheimer’s disease; aerobic exercise; cognitive function; motor function; neurotrophic factors.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
CONSORT diagram presenting the study flow.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Post-hoc analysis of cognitive function variables.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Post-hoc analysis of motor function variables.
Figure 4
Figure 4
Post-hoc analysis of the neurotrophic factor variables.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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