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Exercise renovates H2S and Nrf2-related antioxidant pathways to suppress apoptosis in the natural ageing process of male rat cortex

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Abstract

Ageing is a complex biological process that increases the probability of disease and death, which affects the organs of all species. The accumulation of oxidative damage in the brain contributes to a progressive loss of cognitive functions or even declined the energy metabolism. In this study, we tested the effects of exercise training on the apoptosis, survival, and antioxidant signaling pathways in the cerebral cortex of three age groups of male rats; 3, 12, and 18 months. We observed that H2S and the expression of Nrf2-related antioxidant pathways declined with age and increased after exercise training. IGF1R survival pathway was less increased in middle-aged rats; however, significantly increased after exercise training. The expression of mitochondrial-dependent apoptotic pathway components, such as Bak, cytochrome C, and caspase 3 in the ageing control group, were much higher than those of the exercise training groups. This study demonstrated that exercise training could reduce the apoptosis and oxidative stress that accrues throughout ageing, which causes brain damage.

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Data availability

The raw data used and/or analyzed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.

Abbreviations

CBS:

Cystathionine β-synthase

CTH:

Cystathionine-γ-lyase

H2S:

Hydrogen sulfide

Nrf2:

Nuclear factor E2-related factor 2

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Acknowledgements

We thank that this work is supported grants from Hualien Tzu Chi Hospital (Buddhist Tzu Chi Medical Foundation), China Medical University, Asia University, and China Medical University Hospital in Taiwan (IMAR-110-01-16, CMU107-ASIA-01, and DMR-105-011).

Author information

Author notes

  1. Jing-Ying Lin and Tsung-Jung Ho have contributed equally to this paper.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Medical Imageing and Radiological Science, Central Taiwan University of Science and Technology, Taichung, Taiwan

    Jing-Ying Lin

  2. Department of Chinese Medicine, Hualien Tzu Chi Hospital, Buddhist Tzu Chi Medical Foundation, Hualien, Taiwan

    Tsung-Jung Ho

  3. Integration Center of Traditional Chinese and Modern Medicine, HualienTzu Chi Hospital, Buddhist Tzu Chi Medical Foundation, Hualien, Taiwan

    Tsung-Jung Ho

  4. School of Post-Baccalaureate Chinese Medicine, College of Medicine, Tzu Chi University, Buddhist Tzu Chi Medical Foundation, Hualien, Taiwan

    Tsung-Jung Ho

  5. Cardiovascular and Mitochondrial Related Disease Research Center, Hualien Tzu Chi Hospital, Buddhist Tzu Chi Medical Foundation, Tzu Chi University of Science and Technology, Hualien, Taiwan

    Bruce Chi-Kang Tsai, Chien-Yi Chiang & Chih-Yang Huang

  6. Department of Public Health, Tzu Chi University, Buddhist Tzu Chi Medical Foundation, Hualien, Taiwan

    Hui-Chuan Kao

  7. Department of Biological Science and Technology, College of Life Sciences, China Medical University, Taichung, Taiwan

    Wei-Wen Kuo

  8. Ph.D. Program for Biotechnology Industry, China Medical University, Taichung, Taiwan

    Wei-Wen Kuo

  9. Department of Surgery, School of Medicine, College of Medicine, Taipei Medical University, Taipei, Taiwan

    Ray-Jade Chen

  10. Department of Biotechnology, Bharathiar University, Coimbatore, India

    Vijaya Padma Viswanadha

  11. Graduate Institute of Biomedical Sciences, China Medical University, Taichung, Taiwan

    Chi-Wen Huang & Chih-Yang Huang

  12. Center of General Education, Buddhist Tzu Chi Medical Foundation, Tzu Chi University of Science and Technology, Hualien, Taiwan

    Chih-Yang Huang

  13. Department of Medical Research, China Medical University Hospital, China Medical University, Taichung, Taiwan

    Chih-Yang Huang

  14. Department of Medical Laboratory Science and Biotechnology, Asia University, Taichung, Taiwan

    Chih-Yang Huang

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  1. Jing-Ying Lin
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  2. Tsung-Jung Ho
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  3. Bruce Chi-Kang Tsai
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  9. Chi-Wen Huang
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  10. Chih-Yang Huang
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Contributions

JL, TH, and CH supervised the study. BCT and CC wrote the manuscript. BCT and CC performed the histological examination of the tissue, and data analysis. WK, HK, TH, RC, and CH analyzed the data and had contributions to the conception. VPV and CH had contributions to interpretation of data and substantively revised it. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Chih-Yang Huang.

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All protocols were approved by the Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee of Central Taiwan University of Science and Technology, Taichung, Taiwan.

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Lin, JY., Ho, TJ., Tsai, B.CK. et al. Exercise renovates H2S and Nrf2-related antioxidant pathways to suppress apoptosis in the natural ageing process of male rat cortex. Biogerontology 22, 495–506 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10522-021-09929-8

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