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Cited by 42Neurogenesis and neuroplasticity mechanismsStress Responses and CortisolNeurological Disease Mechanisms and Treatments

Synergistic effects of diet and exercise on hippocampal function in chronically stressed mice

Hutton, C.P., Déry, N., Rosa, E., Lemon, J.A., Rollo, C.D., Boreham, D.R., Fahnestock, M., deCatanzaro, D. +2 more·2015·Neuroscience
DOI 10.1016/j.neuroscience.2015.09.005
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Abstract

Severe chronic stress can have a profoundly negative impact on the brain, affecting plasticity, neurogenesis, memory and mood. On the other hand, there are factors that upregulate neurogenesis, which include dietary antioxidants and physical activity. These factors are associated with biochemical processes that are also altered in age-related cognitive decline and dementia, such as neurotrophin expression, oxidative stress and inflammation. We exposed mice to an unpredictable series of stressors or left them undisturbed (controls). Subsets of stressed and control mice were concurrently given (1) no additional treatment, (2) a complex dietary supplement (CDS) designed to ameliorate inflammation, oxidative stress, mitochondrial dysfunction, insulin resistance and membrane integrity, (3) a running wheel in each of their home cages that permitted them to exercise, or (4) both the CDS and the running wheel for exercise. Four weeks of unpredictable stress reduced the animals' preference for saccharin, increased their adrenal weights and abolished the exercise-induced upregulation of neurogenesis that was observed in non-stressed animals. Unexpectedly, stress did not reduce hippocampal size, brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), or neurogenesis. The combination of dietary supplementation and exercise had multiple beneficial effects, as reflected in the number of doublecortin (DCX)-positive immature neurons in the dentate gyrus (DG), the sectional area of the DG and hippocampal CA1, as well as increased hippocampal BDNF messenger ribonucleic acid (mRNA) and serum vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) levels. In contrast, these benefits were not observed in chronically stressed animals exposed to either dietary supplementation or exercise alone. These findings could have important clinical implications for those suffering from chronic stress-related disorders such as major depression.

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Authors
Hutton, C. P., Déry, N., Rosa, E., Lemon, J. A., Rollo, C. D., Boreham, D. R., Fahnestock, M., deCatanzaro, D., Wojtowicz, J. M., & Becker, S.
Affiliations
  • McMaster University (CA)
  • University of Toronto (CA)
Corresponding author
Becker, S.
ORCID
Venue
Neuroscience
Publisher
Elsevier BV
Published
2015-11
Volume
308
Pages
180-193
ISSN
0306-4522 (ISSN-L)
DOI
10.1016/j.neuroscience.2015.09.005
OpenAlex
W1416383610
Cited by
41
References
81
Citations by year
2026: 2 · 2025: 4 · 2024: 1 · 2023: 4 · 2022: 5 · 2020: 3 · 2019: 3 · 2018: 4 · 2017: 7 · 2016: 7 · 2015: 1
FWCI
2.56
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
closed
Licence
www.elsevier.com/tdm/userlicense/1.0/ (tdm)
Locations
  • Neuroscience (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
Funders
  • NSERC
  • CIHR
  • Alzheimer’s Society of Canada
Topics
  • Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Developmental Neuroscience › Neurogenesis and neuroplasticity mechanisms
  • Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Behavioral Neuroscience › Stress Responses and Cortisol
  • Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Neurology › Neurological Disease Mechanisms and Treatments
Keywords
chronic stress, hippocampus, neurogenesis, physical activity, dietary supplementation, antioxidants, unpredictable stress, brain-derived neurotrophic factor, vascular endothelial growth factor, doublecortin, dentate gyrus, oxidative stress, inflammation, major depressive disorder, age-related cognitive decline
MeSH terms
Doublecortin Protein, Animals, Chronic Disease, Depressive Disorder, Diet, Disease Models, Animal, Hippocampus, Insulin-Like Growth Factor I, Male, Mice, Inbred C57BL, Organ Size, Physical Conditioning, Animal, Running, Stress, Psychological, Treatment Outcome, Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor, Dietary Supplements, Uncertainty, Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor A, Neurogenesis

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