| Keywords |
Traumatic brain injury ; Exercise ; Hippocampus ; c-Fos |
| Abstract |
Traumatic brain injury (TBI) produces chronic cognitive learning/memory deficits. Clinically, exercise rehabilitation is often recommended to address this impairment. In the present study, we investigated the effects of treadmill exercise on memory and c-Fos expression in the hippocampus of rat with TBI. Male SD rats were randomly assigned to the following three groups: Sham-operation group (n = 10), TBI group (n = 10), and TBI and exercise group (n = 10). TBI was induced by a electromagnetic controlled cortical impact. Treadmill running was conducted with duration and frequency of 30 minutes and 5 times per week, respectively, for 2 weeks. Rats were tested on a step-through passive avoidance task in order to evaluate the memory ability. c-Fos immunohistochemistry was performed to detect c-Fos expression in the hippocampus. In our results, TBI resulted in significant memory impairment along with suppressed c-Fos expression in the hippocampus (p < 0.05). However treadmill exercise significantly improved the memory capability and upregulated the hippocampal c-Fos expression following TBI (p < 0.05). Based on the present results, it can be suggested that treadmill running exert a beneficial effect on TBI-induced memory impairment by enhancing c-Fos expression in the hippocampus. |