Zheng Hang, Liu Yanyou, Li Wei, Yang Bo, Chen Dengbang, Wang Xiaojia, Jiang Zhou, Wang Hongxing, Wang Zhengrong, Cornelisson G, Halberg F
West China Medical Center, Sichuan University, Chengdu, Sichuan 610041, PR China.
Behav Brain Res. 2006 Mar 15;168(1):47-55. doi: 10.1016/j.bbr.2005.10.007. Epub 2005 Nov 11.
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.
运动对抑郁症患者的心理健康具有有益影响，然而，其潜在机制仍未得到解决。本研究利用抑郁症的慢性不可预测应激（CNS）动物模型来评估运动对大鼠抑郁行为和空间表现的影响。此外，我们检验了这样一个假设，即运动逆转CNS有害影响的能力与下丘脑-垂体-肾上腺（HPA）系统以及海马体中的脑源性神经营养因子（BDNF）有关。动物分组在有或没有自愿轮转跑步机会的情况下接受4周的CNS处理。应激大鼠在CNS处理期间消耗的1%蔗糖溶液显著减少，并且在旷场行为中表现出显著下降。另一方面，在CNS结束2周后，它们在莫里斯水迷宫测试中的空间表现受损。此外，CNS显著降低了海马体BDNF mRNA水平。然而，自愿运动改善甚至逆转了应激大鼠的这些有害行为影响。此外，运动抵消了由CNS引起的海马体BDNF mRNA的减少。此外，我们还发现单独的CNS显著增加了循环皮质酮（CORT）并降低了海马体糖皮质激素受体（GR）mRNA水平。同时，单独运动适度增加了CORT，并且不影响海马体GR mRNA水平。而当CNS和运动同时存在时，运动减少了由CNS引起的CORT增加和GR减少。结果表明：（1）运动逆转了CNS对大鼠情绪和空间表现的有害影响；（2）运动和/或CNS诱导的行为变化可能与海马体BDNF水平有关，此外，HPA系统可能在这两个不同过程中发挥不同作用。
