The Effect of Different Intensities of Treadmill Exercise on Cognitive Function Deficit Following a Severe Controlled Cortical Impact in Rats

作者：Xiafeng Shen, Aiping Li, Yuling Zhang, Xiaomin Dong, Tian Shan, Yi Wu, Jie Jia, Yongshan Hu · 发表于：International Journal of Molecular Sciences · 年份：2013 · DOI：10.3390/ijms141121598 · 被引用次数：58 · 研究领域：Traumatic Brain Injury and Neurovascular Disturbances、Traumatic Brain Injury Research、Neurogenesis and neuroplasticity mechanisms

Exercise has been proposed for the treatment of traumatic brain injury (TBI). However, the proper intensity of exercise in the early phase following a severe TBI is largely unknown. To compare two different treadmill exercise intensities on the cognitive function following a severe TBI in its early phase, rats experienced a controlled cortical impact (CCI) and were forced to treadmill exercise for 14 days. The results revealed that the rats in the low intensity exercise group had a shorter latency to locate a platform and a significantly better improvement in spatial memory in the Morris water maze (MWM) compared to the control group (p < 0.05). The high intensity exercise group showed a longer latency and a mild improvement in spatial memory compared to the control group rats in the MWM; however, this difference was not statistically significant (p > 0.05). The brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) and p-CREB protein levels in the contralateral hippocampus were increased significantly in the low intensity exercise group. Our results suggest that 2 weeks of low intensity of treadmill exercise is beneficial for improving cognitive function and increasing hippocampal BDNF expression after a severe TBI in its early phase.