Shima Takeru, Kawabata-Iwakawa Reika, Onishi Hayate, Jesmin Subrina, Yoshikawa Tomonori
Department of Health and Physical Education, Cooperative Faculty of Education, Gunma University, 4-2 Aramaki-machi, Maebashi, Gunma 371-8510, Japan.
Division of Integrated Oncology Research, Gunma University Initiative for Advanced Research, 3-39-22, Showa-machi, Maebashi, Gunma 371-8511, Japan.
Brain Res. 2022 Jul 15;1787:147920. doi: 10.1016/j.brainres.2022.147920. Epub 2022 Apr 19.
Empathy is one of the essential functions of mammals for maintaining relationships with others. Physical activity contributes to enhancing empathic attitude and behavior; however, it is remained to cover the effective intensity of exercise on mammal empathy. Here, we tested the effects of light-intensity exercise, which has beneficial effects on expressing neurotrophic factors in the brain, on empathic behavior. Eight-week-old male C57BL/6 mice were subjected to forced wheel running at light-intensity (7.0 m/min, 30 min/day, 5 days/week) for 4 weeks. Then, all mice were subjected to helping behavior to evaluate their empathic behavior. The insular cortex was collected for analyzing the expressions of mRNA and miRNA. Four weeks of light-intensity exercise enhanced helping behavior. Exercised mice exhibited higher Bdnf gene expressions in the insular cortex than sedentary mice. In addition, there was a significant positive correlation between mRNA levels of Fndc5 and Bdnf in the insular cortex. Based on miRNA sequencing, 26 out of 51 miRNAs were significantly upregulated, and 25 out of 51 miRNAs were significantly downregulated in the insular cortex of mice with exercise. There were significant correlations between 11 out of 51 miRNAs and helping behavior; miR-486a-3p, which relates to FNDC5 expression, was contained. These results imply that miR-486a-3p/Fndc5/Bdnf pathway in the insular cortex would be a possible target for treating empathy.
同理心是哺乳动物维持与他人关系的基本功能之一。体育活动有助于增强同理心态度和行为；然而，运动对哺乳动物同理心的有效强度仍有待研究。在此，我们测试了对大脑中神经营养因子表达有有益影响的低强度运动对同理心行为的影响。将8周龄雄性C57BL/6小鼠进行低强度（7.0米/分钟，每天30分钟，每周5天）的强制转轮运动，持续4周。然后，对所有小鼠进行帮助行为测试以评估它们的同理心行为。收集岛叶皮质用于分析mRNA和miRNA的表达。四周的低强度运动增强了帮助行为。运动小鼠的岛叶皮质中Bdnf基因表达高于久坐不动的小鼠。此外，岛叶皮质中Fndc5的mRNA水平与Bdnf之间存在显著正相关。基于miRNA测序，运动小鼠的岛叶皮质中51种miRNA中有26种显著上调，51种miRNA中有25种显著下调。51种miRNA中有11种与帮助行为存在显著相关性；其中包含与FNDC5表达相关的miR-486a-3p。这些结果表明，岛叶皮质中的miR-486a-3p/Fndc5/Bdnf通路可能是治疗同理心的一个潜在靶点。
