The effect of treadmill exercise on inflammatory responses in rat model of streptozotocin-induced experimental dementia of Alzheimer's type

J Exerc Nutrition Biochem. 2014 Jun;18(2):225-33. doi: 10.5717/jenb.2014.18.2.225. Epub 2014 Feb 15.

Abstract

Purpose: The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of treadmill exercise on inflammatory response in streptozotocin (STZ)-induced animal model of Alzheimer's disease (AD).

Methods: To induce the animal model of AD, Sprague-Dawley rats were injected into intracerebroventricular (ICV) injection with 1.5 mg/kg of STZ. Rats were divided into three groups as Sham-con group (n = 7), STZ-con group (n = 7) and STZ-exe group (n = 7). Exercise group ran on the treadmill for 30 min/day, 5 days/week during 6 weeks.

Results: The results of this study were as follows: First, STZ-exe group was improved on cognitive function when compared to STZ-con group in water maze test. Second, STZ-exe group help reduce the expression level of amyloid-beta (Aβ). In addition, Toll-like receptors-4 (TLR4), Nuclear factor-kB (NF-kB), Tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) and Interleukin-1α (IL-1α) level of STZ-exe group was significantly decreased when compared to STZ-con group.

Conclusion: These results show that treadmill exercise had positive effect on cognitive function and reduced inflammatory response in STZ-induced animal model of AD.

Keywords: Alzheimer’s disease; Amyloid-beta; Inflammatory; Streptozotocin; Treadmill exercise.