Efeito neuroprotetor do exercício físico em um modelo de doença de alzheimer induzido pelo peptídeo β-amilóide (1-40) em camundongos

Abstract

Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is a chronic degenerative disorder, clinically characterized by gradual and progressive decline in memory. There is a substantial body of evidence demonstrating the central role of beta-amyloid (Aβ) peptide in the pathophysiology of AD. The administration of this peptide into the brain of rodents has been shown to be a useful model for the study of this disease and neuroprotective interventions. Thus, the aim of this study was to investigate the effect of swimming training (ST) on cognitive behavioral and markers of oxidative stress and neuroinflammation in a mouse model of DA induced by Aβ1-40 peptide. The animals were randomly assigned into four groups: (1) sedentary/vehicle; (2) sedentary/Aβ1-40; (3) exercise/vehicle; and (4) exercise/Aβ1-40. Aβ1-40 groups received intracerebroventricular (i.c.v.) injection of Aβ1-40 (3μl/site; 400pmol/mouse) and vehicle groups received i.c.v. injection of PBS (phosphate-buffered-saline; 3μl/site). Exercise groups were submitted to swimming training (ST) with progressive increase in time and duration for 8 weeks (5x/week), and sedentary groups were kept in physical inactivity. After 24h of last bout of ST, mice received Aβ1-40 or vehicle (by i.c.v. route). Seven days after i.c.v. injections, mice were submitted to cognitive behavioural tests and, finally, submitted to euthanasia. The hippocampus (HC) and prefrontal cortex (PFC) were removed for biochemical assays. Our results demonstrated that ST was effective in attenuating the following impairments caused by Aβ1-40 peptide: (1) impairment on short-term and long-term memories in object recognition test, without altering the locomotor activity; (2) increased reactive species (RS) levels and decreased non-protein thiols (NPSH) levels in HC and PFC; (3) inhibition of the superoxide dismutase (SOD) activity and increase in glutathione peroxidase (GPx), glutathione reductase(GR) and glutathione S-transferase (GST) activities in HC and PFC; and (4) increased tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α) and interleukin-1 beta (IL-1β) levels and reduced and interleukin-10 (IL-10) levels in HC and PFC. In conclusion, we suggest that regular exercise may prevent cognitive decline, oxidative stress and neuroinflammation induced by Aβ1-40 peptide in mice, supporting the hypothesis that exercise can be used as a non-pharmacological tool to reduce the symptoms of DA.