Medium-intensity acute exhaustive exercise induces neural cell apoptosis in the rat hippocampus

Shanni Li; Jin Liu; Hengmei Yan

doi:10.3969/j.issn.1673-5374.2013.02.004

Medium-intensity acute exhaustive exercise induces neural cell apoptosis in the rat hippocampus

Neural Regen Res. 2013 Jan 15;8(2):127-32. doi: 10.3969/j.issn.1673-5374.2013.02.004.

Authors

Shanni Li¹, Jin Liu², Hengmei Yan²

Affiliations

¹ College of Life Sciences, Hunan Normal University, Changsha 410081, Hunan Province, China ; School of Biological Science and Technology, Central South University, Changsha 410013, Hunan Province, China.
² College of Life Sciences, Hunan Normal University, Changsha 410081, Hunan Province, China.

PMID: 25206482
PMCID: PMC4107505
DOI: 10.3969/j.issn.1673-5374.2013.02.004

Abstract

The present study assessed the influence of medium-intensity (treadmill at a speed of 19.3 m/min until exhaustion) and high-intensity (treadmill at a speed of 26.8 m/min until exhaustion) acute exhaustive exercise on rat hippocampal neural cell apoptosis. TUNEL staining showed significantly increased neural cell apoptosis in the hippocampal CA1 region of rats after medium- and high-intensity acute exhaustive exercise, particularly the medium-intensity acute exhaustive exercise, when compared with the control. Immunohistochemistry showed significantly increased expression of the antiapoptotic protein Bcl-2 and the proapoptotic protein Bax in the hippocampal CA1 region of rats after medium- and high-intensity acute exhaustive exercise. Additionally, the ratio of Bax to Bcl-2 increased in both exercise groups. In particular, the medium-intensity acute exhaustive exercise group had significantly higher Bax and Bcl-2 protein expression and a higher Bax/Bcl-2 ratio. These findings indicate that acute exhaustive exercise of different intensities can induce neural cell apoptosis in the hippocampus, and that medium-intensity acute exhaustive exercise results in greater damage when compared with high-intensity exercise.

Keywords: Bax; Bcl-2; acute exhaustive exercise; apoptosis; brain injury; different intensities; grant-supported paper; hippocampus; neural regeneration; neuron; neuroregeneration; photographs-containing paper.