Beneficial effects of exercise and its molecular mechanisms on depression in rats.
Open accessAbstract
Exercise showed the beneficial effects on mental health in depressed sufferers, whereas, its underlying mechanisms remained unresolved. This study utilized the chronic unpredictable stress (CNS) animal model of depression to evaluate the effects of exercise on depressive behaviors and spatial performance in rats. Furthermore, we tested the hypothesis that the capacity of exercise to reverse the harmful effects of CNS was relative to the hypothalamo-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) system and brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) in the hippocampus. Animal groups were exposed to CNS for 4 weeks with and without access to voluntary wheel running. Stressed rats consumed significantly less of a 1% sucrose solution during CNS and exhibited a significant decrease in open field behavior. On the other hand, they showed impaired spatial performance in Morris water maze test 2 weeks after the end of CNS. Further, CNS significantly decreased hippocampal BDNF mRNA levels. However, voluntary exercise improved or even reversed these harmful behavioral effects in stressed rats. Furthermore, exercise counteracted a decrease in hippocampal BDNF mRNA caused by CNS. In addition, we also found that CMS alone increased circulating corticosterone (CORT) significantly and decreased hippocampal glucocorticoid receptor (GR) mRNA. At the same time, exercise alone increased CORT moderately and did not affect hippocampal GR mRNA levels. While, when both CNS and exercise were combined, exercise reduced the increase of CORT and the decrease of GR caused by CMS. The results demonstrated that: (1) exercise reversed the harmful effects of CNS on mood and spatial performance in rats and (2) the behavioral changes induced by exercise and/or CNS might be associated with hippocampal BDNF levels, and in addition, the HPA system might play different roles in the two different processes.
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In animal models of stress/MDD, AE can promote hippocampal neurogenesis, vascularization, BDNF expression, IGF-1 expression, VEGF expression, and hippocampal synaptic plasticity.
“In animal models of stress/MDD, certain micro-scale changes have been recorded which demonstrate that AE can promote hippocampal neurogenesis, vascularization, BDNF expression (both brain-wide and within the hippocampus), IGF-1 expression, VEGF expression, and hippocampal synaptic plasticity (Adlard and Cotman, 2004; Zheng et al., 2006; Bjørnebekk et al., 2010; Nakajima et al., 2010; Sartori et al”
From Aerobic Exercise as a Tool to Improve Hippocampal Plasticity and Function in Humans: Practical Implications for Mental Health Treatment (2016) · cites this paper as Zheng et al., 2006
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- Authors
- Zheng, H., Liu, Y., Li, W., Yang, B., Chen, D., Wang, X., Jiang, Z., Wang, H., Wang, Z., Cornelisson, G., & Halberg, F.
- Affiliations
- Sichuan University (CN)
- University of Minnesota (US)
- Corresponding author
- Wang, Zhengrong
- Venue
- Behavioural Brain Research
- Publisher
- Elsevier BV
- Published
- 2006-03
- Volume
- 168
- Issue
- 1
- Pages
- 47-55
- ISSN
- 0166-4328 (ISSN-L)
- PMC
- PMC2662337
- OpenAlex
- W2042415483
- Cited by
- 212
- References
- 55
- Citations by year
- 2026: 4 · 2025: 3 · 2024: 5 · 2023: 3 · 2022: 6 · 2021: 11 · 2020: 10 · 2019: 10 · 2018: 7 · 2017: 7 · 2016: 18 · 2015: 15 · 2014: 13 · 2013: 13 · 2012: 24
- FWCI
- 4.17
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- green
- www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
- Locations
- Behavioural Brain Research (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (acceptedVersion)
- PubMed Central (acceptedVersion)
- Funders
- National Natural Science Foundation of China
- National Institute of General Medical Sciences (K06GM013981)
- Topics
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Behavioral Neuroscience › Stress Responses and Cortisol
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Pharmacology › Treatment of Major Depression
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Developmental Neuroscience › Neurogenesis and neuroplasticity mechanisms
- Keywords
- physical activity, depression, chronic unpredictable mild stress, voluntary wheel running, hippocampus, brain-derived neurotrophic factor, hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis, glucocorticoid receptor, corticosterone, spatial learning and memory, sucrose intake, anhedonia
- MeSH terms
- Animals, Body Weight, Corticosterone, Depression, Exploratory Behavior, Hippocampus, Hypothalamo-Hypophyseal System, Male, Motor Activity, Physical Conditioning, Animal, Receptors, Gonadotropin, Stress, Psychological, Sucrose, Rats, Sprague-Dawley, Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor, Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction, Rats
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