Early exercise induces long-lasting morphological changes in cortical and hippocampal neurons throughout of a sedentary period of rats

Author(s):Show less -

Serra, Fernando Tadeu ^{[1, 2]} ; Carvalho, Andrea Dominguez ^[1] ; Silva Araujo, Bruno Henrique ^[3] ; Torres, Laila Brito ^{[4, 5]} ; Cardoso, Fabrizio dos Santos ^[2] ; Henrique, Jessica Salles ^[1] ; Diaz Placencia, Eduardo Varejao ^[1] ; Lent, Roberto ^{[6, 7]} ; Gomez-Pinilla, Fernando ^[8] ; Arida, Ricardo Mario ^[1] ; da Silva, Sergio Gomes ^{[9, 2, 10, 11]}

Affiliation:Show less -

^[1] Univ Fed Sao Paulo, UNIFESP, Sao Paulo, SP - Brazil

^[2] Univ Mogi das Cruzes, Res & Technol Ctr, Mogi Das Cruzes, SP - Brazil

^[3] Brazilian Ctr Res Energy & Mat CNPEM, Brazilian Biosci Natl Lab LNBio, BR-13083970 Campinas, SP - Brazil

^[4] Univ Sao Paulo, Biosci Inst, Human Genome & Stem Cell Res Ctr, Dept Genet & Evolutionary Biol, Sao Paulo, SP - Brazil

^[5] Inst Sao Leopoldo Mandic, Fac Sao Leopoldo Mandic, Area Fisiol, Farmacol, Campinas, SP - Brazil

^[6] Fed Univ Rio de Janeiro UFRJ, Inst Biomed Sci, Rio De Janeiro, RJ - Brazil

^[7] DOr Inst Res & Educ IDOR, Rio De Janeiro, RJ - Brazil

^[8] Univ Calif Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA - USA

^[9] HIAE, Sao Paulo, SP - Brazil

^[10] Ctr Univ FAMINAS UNIFAMINAS, Muriae, MG - Brazil

^[11] Hosp Canc Muriae, FCV, Muriae, MG - Brazil

• Document type: Journal article
• Source: SCIENTIFIC REPORTS; v. 9, SEP 23 2019.
• Web of Science Citations: 0

Abstract

Life experiences at early ages, such as physical activity in childhood and adolescence, can result in long-lasting brain effects able to reduce future risk of brain disorders and to enhance lifelong brain functions. However, how early physical exercise promotes these effects remains unclear. A possible hypothesis is that physical exercise increases the expression of neurotrophic factors and stimulates neuronal growth, resulting in a neural reserve to be used at later ages. Basing our study on this hypothesis, we evaluated the absolute number and morphology of neuronal cells, as well as the expression of growth, proliferation and survival proteins (BDNF, Akt, mTOR, p70S6K, ERK and CREB) in the cerebral cortex and hippocampal formation throughout of a sedentary period of rats who were physically active during youth. To do this, male Wistar rats were submitted to an aerobic exercise protocol from the 21st to the 60th postnatal days (P21-P60), and evaluated at 0 (P60), 30 (P90) and 60 (P120) days after the last exercise session. Results showed that juvenile exercise increased, and maintained elevated, the number of cortical and hippocampal neuronal cells and dendritic arborization, when evaluated at the above post-exercise ages. Hippocampal BDNF levels and cortical mTOR expression were found to be increased at P60, but were restored to control levels at P90 and P120. Overall, these findings indicate that, despite the short-term effects on growth and survival proteins, early exercise induces long-lasting morphological changes in cortical and hippocampal neurons even during a sedentary period of rats. (AU)

• FAPESP's process: 14/00035-1 - Neural reserve induced by practice of physical activity in adolescence: a study of the brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), its receptors (TrkB e p75ntr) and intracellular signaling pathways
• Grantee: Sérgio Gomes da Silva
• Support Opportunities: Regular Research Grants