The Effect of Endurance Training on Gene Expression of PGC-1α, BDNF and Learning Disorders in the Hippocampus of Aging Rats

Document Type : Research Paper

Authors
Zeinab Rezaee 1
Seyed Mohammad Marandi 2
Hojjatallah Alaei 3
Fahimeh Esfarjani 4
1 Ph.D. Student of Exercise Physiology, University of Isfahan, Isfahan, Iran
2 Professor of Exercise Physiology, University of Isfahan, Isfahan, Iran
3 Professor of Physiology, Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, Isfahan, Iran
4 َAssociate Professor of Exercise Physiology, University of Isfahan, Isfahan, Iran
10.22089/spj.2018.5281.1701
Abstract
Aging is a period that in addition to physical disturbances is associated with behavioral, cognitive and motor disorders, and endurance exercise can improve these disorders by increasing expression in some factors. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of 12 weeks endurance running on treadmill (5 days a week, 20 m/min) on gene expression of PGC-1α, BDNF, learning and memory in the hippocampus of elderly rats. The rats were randomly divided into three groups: aging, aging- training and young. After the end of the protocol, hippocampus was excised and was frozen at -80 °C for mRNA condensation. Gene expression was compared by one-way ANOVA and Morrise Water Maze test was analyzed through repeated measure ANOVA. The findings show that the learning and spatial memory decrease in aging group compression with young group and training improved this disorder. Also, training led to an increase in expression of PGC-1α and BDNF in the aging group, so there was no significant difference in expression of these two factors between the aging-exercise and young group (P˂0.05). Therefore, considering the role of PGC-1α and BDNF in protection of neurons, it seems that endurance training has a protective effect on aging disorders.
Keywords
Endurance Exercise
Cognition
Aging and BDNF

Main Subjects

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Sport Physiology
Volume 11, Issue 43
Fall 2018
October 2019
Pages 91-104

  • Receive Date 25 December 2017
  • Revise Date 08 February 2018
  • Accept Date 17 February 2018