Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

Downhill training upregulates mice hippocampal and striatal brain-derived neurotrophic factor levels

  • Basic Neurosciences, Genetics and Immunology - Short Communication
  • Published:
Journal of Neural Transmission Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

This study examined the effects of downhill treadmill exercise on brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) protein on the hippocampus and striatum of mice. Twenty-four adult mice were assigned to three groups: non-runners control, level or downhill (16° decline) running exercise. The exercise schedule consisted of progressive treadmill running for 5 days week−1 over 8 weeks. Blood lactate levels classified exercise intensity as moderate to high. Both training types increased citrate synthase activity of the soleus muscle when compared to untrained controls. While level running increased BDNF levels selectively in the hippocampus (68.5%), the eccentric running resulted in a pronounced BDNF increase in both the hippocampus (137.0%) and the striatum (49.9%). Further studies will specify whether the observed alterations in BDNF are due to downhill-induced upregulation or complex learning-induced mechanisms that influence BDNF levels in these brain regions.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Aguiar AS Jr, Tuon T, Pinho CA, Silva LA, Andreazza AC, Kapczinski F, Quevedo J, Streck EL, Pinho RA (2007) Mitochondrial IV complex and brain neurothrophic derived factor responses of mice brain cortex after downhill training. Neurosci Lett 426:171–174

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Aguiar AS Jr, Tuon T, Pinho CA, Silva LA, Andreazza AC, Kapczinski F, Quevedo J, Streck EL, Pinho RA (2008) Intense exercise induces mitochondrial dysfunction in mice brain. Neurochem Res 33:51–58

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Alp PR, Newsholme EA, Zammit VA (1976) Activities of citrate synthase and NAD+-linked and NADP+-linked isocitrate dehydrogenase in muscle from vertebrates and invertebrates. Biochem J 154:689–700

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Angeli A, Minetto M, Dovio A, Paccotti P (2004) The overtraining syndrome in athletes: a stress-related disorder. J Endocrinol Invest 6:603–612

    Google Scholar 

  • Berchtold NC, Chinn G, Chou M, Kesslak JP, Cotman CW (2005) Exercise primes a molecular memory for brain-derived neurotrophic factor protein induction in the rat hippocampus. Neuroscience 133:853–861

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Carmichael MD, Davis JM, Murphy EA, Brown AS, Carson JA, Mayer E, Ghaffar A (2005) Recovery of running performance following muscle-damaging exercise: relationship to brain IL-1β. Brain Behav Immun 19:445–452

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Carro E, Nunez A, Busiguina S, Torres-Aleman I (2001) Circulating insulin-like growth factor I mediates effects of exercise on the brain. J Neurosci 20:2926–2933

    Google Scholar 

  • Cechetti F, Fochesatto C, Scopel D, Nardin P, Gonçalves CA, Netto CA, Siqueira IR (2008) Effect of a neuroprotective exercise protocol on oxidative state and BDNF levels in the rat hippocampus. Brain Res 1188:182–188

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Chapman D, Newton M, Sacco P, Nosaka K (2006) Greater muscle damage induced by fast versus slow velocity eccentric exercise. Int J Sports Med 27:591–598

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Cotman CW, Berchtold NC (2002) Exercise: a behavioral intervention to enhance brain health and plasticity. Trends Neurosci 25:295–301

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Ding Q, Vaynman S, Akhavan M, Ying Z, Gomez-Pinilla F (2006) Insulin-like growth factor I interfaces with brain-derived neurotrophic factor-mediated synaptic plasticity to modulate aspects of exercise-induced cognitive function. Neuroscience 140:823–833

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Dobrossy MD, Dunnett SB (2004) Environmental enrichment affects striatal graft morphological and functional recovery. Eur J Neurosci 19:159–168

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Dobrossy MD, Dunnett SB (2006) Morphological and cellular changes within embryonic striatal grafts associated with enriched environment and involuntary exercise. Eur J Neurosci 24:3223–3233

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Fang Y, Siemionow V, Sahgal V, Xiong F, Yue GH (2001) Greater movement-related cortical potential during human eccentric versus concentric muscle contractions. J Neurophysiol 86:1764–1772

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Howell JN, Fuglevand AJ, Walsh ML, Bigland-Ritchie B (1995) Motor unit activity during isometric and concentric-eccentric contractions of the human first dorsal interosseous muscle. J Neurophysiol 74:901–904

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Hu Y, Russek SJ (2008) BDNF and the diseased nervous system: a delicate balance between adaptive and pathological processes of gene regulation. J Neurochem 105:1–17

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Huang AM, Jen CJ, Chen HF, Yu L, Kuo YM, Chen HI (2006) Compulsive exercise acutely upregulates rat hippocampal brain-derived neurotrophic factor. J Neural Transm 113:803–811

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Hunsberger JG, Newton SS, Bennett AH, Duman CH, Russell DS, Salton SR, Duman RS (2007) Antidepressant actions of the exercise-regulated gene VGF. Nature Med 13:1476–1482

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Lowry OH, Rosebough NG, Farr AL, Randall RJ (1951) Protein measurement with the folin phenol reagent. J Biol Chem 193:265–275

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • McDonald JR, Hong NS, Devan BD (2004) The challenges of understanding mammalian cognition and memory-based behaviours: an interactive learning and memory systems approach. Neurosci Biobehav Rev 28:719–745

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Nardone A, Romano C, Schieppati M (1989) Selective recruitment of high threshold human motor units during voluntary isotonic lengthening of active muscles. J Physiol 409:451–471

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Neeper SA, Gomez-Pinilla F, Choi J, Cotman CW (1996) Physical activity increases mRNA for brain-derived neurotrophic factor and nerve growth factor in rat brain. Brain Res 726:49–56

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Pang TYC, Stam NC, Nithianantharajah J, Howard ML, Hannan AJ (2006) Differential effects of voluntary physical exercise on behavioral and brain-derived neurotrophic factor expression deficits in Huntington’s disease transgenic mice. Neuroscience 141:569–584

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ploughman M, Granter-Button S, Chernenko G, Attwood Z, Tucker BA, Mearow KM, Corbett D (2007) Exercise intensity influences the temporal profile of growth factors involved in neuronal plasticity following focal ischemia. Brain Res 1150:207–216

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Roland PE, Lassen B, Lassen NA, Skinhoj E (1980) Supplementary motor area and other cortical areas in organization of voluntary movements in man. J Neurophysiol 43:118–136

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Soya H, Nakamura T, Deocaris CC, Kimpara A, Iimura M, Fujikawa T, Chang H, McEwen BS, Nishijima T (2007) BDNF induction with mild exercise in the rat hippocampus. Biochem Biophys Res Commun 358:961–967

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Vaynman S, Ying Z, Gomez-Pinilla F (2004) Exercise induces BDNF and synapsin I to specific hippocampal subfields. J Neurosci Res 76:356–362

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Voltarelli FA, Gobatto CA, Mello MAR (2002) Determination of anaerobic threshold in rats using the lactate minimum test. Braz J Med Biol Res 35:1389–1394

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Yamada M, Ohnishi H, Sano S, Nakatani A, Ikeuchi T, Hatanaka H (1997) Insulin receptor substrate (IRS)-1 and IRS-2 are tyrosine phosphorylated and associated with phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase in response to brain-derived neurotrophic factor in cultured cerebral cortical neurons. J Biol Chem 272:30334–30339

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Yue GH, Liu JZ, Siemionow V, Ranganathan VK, Ng TC, Sahgal V (2000) Brain activation during human finger extension and flexion movements. Brain Res 856:291–300

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

This research was supported by grants from CNPq/MCT (Brazil) and CAPES/MEC (Brazil).

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Laboratório de Fisiologia e Bioquímica do Exercício, Programa de Pós-Graduação em Ciências da Saúde, Universidade do Extremo Sul Catarinense, Criciuma, SC, 88806-000, Brazil

    Aderbal S. Aguiar Jr, Ana E. Speck & Ricardo A. Pinho

  2. Laboratório Experimental de Doenças Neurodegenerativas, Departamento de Farmacologia, Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina, Campus Trindade, Florianopolis, SC, 88049-900, Brazil

    Aderbal S. Aguiar Jr & Rui D. S. Prediger

  3. Bipolar Disorders Program, Centro de Pesquisas, Hospital das Clínicas de Porto Alegre, Porto Alegre, RS, 90035-003, Brazil

    Flávio Kapczinski

Authors
  1. Aderbal S. Aguiar Jr
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Ana E. Speck
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Rui D. S. Prediger
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Flávio Kapczinski
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Ricardo A. Pinho
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Aderbal S. Aguiar Jr.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Aguiar, A.S., Speck, A.E., Prediger, R.D.S. et al. Downhill training upregulates mice hippocampal and striatal brain-derived neurotrophic factor levels. J Neural Transm 115, 1251–1255 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00702-008-0071-2

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00702-008-0071-2

Keywords

Search

Navigation