Shokouhi Ghaffar, Tubbs R Shane, Shoja Mohammadali M, Roshangar Leila, Mesgari Mehran, Ghorbanihaghjo Amir, Ahmadi Naser, Sheikhzadeh Farzam, Rad Jafar S
Department of Neurosurgery, Tabriz University of Medical Sciences, Tabriz, Iran.
Life Sci. 2008 Apr 9;82(15-16):840-6. doi: 10.1016/j.lfs.2008.01.018. Epub 2008 Feb 11.
The potential role of exercise in preventing the age-related spontaneous peripheral neuropathy has not been studied. We examined the effects of long-term aerobic exercise training on lipid peroxidation, Schwann cell (SC) apoptosis and ultrastructural changes in the sciatic nerve of rats during aging. Three groups of 12-week old Wistar rats ran on a treadmill for 6, 9 and 12 months (exercise trained (ET) group, n=10 each) according to an exercise training program targeted at a speed of 22 m/min (at 7 degrees incline), 60 min/day, 6 days/week. Three corresponding groups of untrained rats were used as the controls (sedentary (SED) group). At the end of each period, sciatic nerve biopsies were performed, and processed for biochemical, immunohistochemical and ultrastructural analyses. The results showed that aging was associated with an increased level of nerve malondialdehyde (MDA, marker of lipid peroxidation) and a higher number of SC apoptosis in SED group. The SED group showed irregular nerve fibers with thin myelin sheaths and areas of myelin-axon detachment. However, the ET group had significantly diminished nerve lipid peroxidation and SC apoptosis. In the ET group, nerve fibers had a thick myelin sheath with frequent folding. These findings suggest that aerobic exercise training protects peripheral nerves by attenuating oxidative reactions, and preserving SCs and myelin sheath from pathologic changes, which occur during normal aging.
运动在预防与年龄相关的自发性周围神经病变中的潜在作用尚未得到研究。我们研究了长期有氧运动训练对衰老过程中大鼠坐骨神经脂质过氧化、雪旺细胞（SC）凋亡及超微结构变化的影响。三组12周龄的Wistar大鼠根据一项运动训练计划在跑步机上跑步6、9和12个月（运动训练（ET）组，每组n = 10），该计划的目标速度为22米/分钟（坡度为7度），每天60分钟，每周6天。三组相应的未训练大鼠作为对照组（久坐（SED）组）。在每个时间段结束时，进行坐骨神经活检，并进行生化、免疫组织化学和超微结构分析。结果显示，衰老与SED组神经丙二醛（MDA，脂质过氧化标志物）水平升高及SC凋亡数量增加有关。SED组显示神经纤维不规则，髓鞘薄，且有髓鞘 - 轴突分离区域。然而，ET组神经脂质过氧化和SC凋亡明显减少。在ET组中，神经纤维有厚的髓鞘且频繁折叠。这些发现表明，有氧运动训练通过减弱氧化反应以及保护SCs和髓鞘免受正常衰老过程中发生的病理变化，从而保护周围神经。
