Document Type : Research Paper I Open Access I Released under (CC BY-NC 4.0) license
Authors
1
Associate Professor, Department of Physical Education & Sport Sciences, Faculty of Humanities, Tabriz Branch, Islamic Azad University, Tabriz
2
PhD Candidate in Exercise Physiology, Department of Physical Education and Sport Sciences, Faculty of Humanities, Islamic Azad University, Tabriz Branch, Tabriz, Iran.
3
Assistant Professor, Department of Physical Education and Sport Sciences, Faculty of Humanities, Islamic Azad University, Tabriz Branch, Tabriz, Iran.
10.22049/jahssp.2025.30419.1727
Abstract
Purpose: The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of aerobic training along with water-soluble Q10 supplementation on the density of dopaminergic neurons in the substantia nigra, brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) expression in brain tissue, and motor coordination in a Parkinson's disease (PD) mouse model. Methods: Forty male Wistar rats were randomly assigned into five groups: Sham (healthy control), PD, PD-aerobic training, PD-Q10, and PD-combined intervention. PD was induced by intracerebral injection of 6-OHDA, and confirmed through apomorphine testing.The aerobic training regimen consisted of four weeks of treadmill running (five days/week), including two sessions (duration= 15 min) each day with 60 min rest interval at running speed of 15 meters/minute. 200 mg/kg body weight of water-soluble Q10 or saline (as vehicle) was administered orally each day. Motor coordination was assessed using Rotarod test, tissue BDNF expression level was measured using ELISA and the number of contact neurons in substantia nigra and also proportion of TH+ neurons count in respect to sham group were respectively determined by histology and immunohistology methods.Data were compared using ANOVA and paired samples t-tests. Results:Motor coordination was lower in all PD groups compared to Sham group, with combined intervention group showing better performance than both PD and Q10 groups. Although the number of healthy neurons in substantia nigra were higher in all intervention groups compared to the PD group, however; it was still lower than the Sham group, with the highest number observed in the two Q10 supplemented groups. The findings of TH+ neurons of substantia nigra had a between-group proportional distribution similar to the number of contact neurons, with a significant advantage only observed in the combined intervention group compared to aerobic exercise group. The expression of tissue BDNF protein was higher in all intervention groups, with no significant advantage among the groups.
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