Ann Rehabil Med.  2018 Oct;42(5):643-651. 10.5535/arm.2018.42.5.643.

Immediate Effects of a Single Exercise on Behavior and Memory in the Early Period of Traumatic Brain Injury in Rats

• Yoon KJ
• Kim DY

• KMID: 2429193
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.5535/arm.2018.42.5.643

Abstract

OBJECTIVE
To evaluate the immediate effect of single exercise on physical performance and memory in the early stage of traumatic brain injury (TBI) in rats.
METHODS
Ninety TBI rats were randomly assigned to T0 (sedentary), T10 (treadmill 10 m/min for 30 minutes), or T20 (treadmill 20 m/min for 30 minutes) groups, on day 3 (D3), D7, and D14 after TBI, respectively. Rotarod (RR), Barnes maze (BM), brain magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and MR spectroscopy were performed immediately before and 6 hours after exercise. Rats were sacrificed for immunohistochemistry with heat shock protein 70 (Hsp70) and glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP).
RESULTS
On D3, the T10 and T20 groups demonstrated significant improvement in RR (p < 0.05). On D7, only the T20 group showed significantly enhanced RR (p < 0.05). In BM on D3, the T20 group showed significant deterioration compared with the other groups (p < 0.05). Lesion volume did not significantly differ among the groups. MR spectroscopy on D3 showed that only the T20 group had significantly increased choline/creatine and 0.9/creatine (p < 0.05). In the perilesional area on D3, only T20 had a significantly higher Hsp70 and GFAP than the T0 group. On D7, Hsp70 was significantly higher in the T20 group than in the T0 group (p < 0.05). In the ipsilesional hippocampus on D3, the T20 group showed a significantly higher Hsp70 and GFAP than the T0 group (p < 0.05).
CONCLUSION
A single session of low-intensity exercise in the early period of TBI improves behavioral performance without inducing cognitive deficits. However, high-intensity exercise can exacerbate cognitive function in the early period after TBI. Therefore, the optimal timing of rehabilitation and exercise intensity are crucial in behavior and memory recovery after TBI.

Keyword

Traumatic brain injuries; Exercise; Recovery; Memory; Rehabilitation

MeSH Terms

Animals
Brain
Brain Injuries*
Cognition
Cognition Disorders
Glial Fibrillary Acidic Protein
Hippocampus
HSP70 Heat-Shock Proteins
Immunohistochemistry
Magnetic Resonance Imaging
Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy
Memory*
Rats*
Rehabilitation
Glial Fibrillary Acidic Protein
HSP70 Heat-Shock Proteins

Figure

• 

  Fig. 1. The results of the Rotarod (RR) and Barnes maze (BM) tests. (A) In RR test, the T10 and T20 groups showed significantly higher RR ratios compared with T0 among the D3 groups. On D7, however, only the T20 group showed significantly higher RR ratios than the other groups. No significant difference was found among the three groups on D14. (B) In BM test, the T20 group showed significantly lower BM ratios than the other groups on D3. On D7 and D14, no significant differences were found in the BM ratios among the three groups. TBI, traumatic brain injury. *p<0.0167, one-way ANOVA with the Scheffe post-hoc analysis.

• 

  Fig. 2. The results of the volume of injured brain, Cho/Cr, and 0.9/Cr. (A) Results of lesion volume measured by MRI showed no significant difference among the groups on D3, D7, and D14. Among the D3 groups, Cho/Cr (B) and 0.9/Cr (C) measured by MR spectroscopy increased significantly in the T20 group. No significant differences were found among the three groups on D7 and D14. Cho, choline; Cr, creatine; TBI, traumatic brain injury. *p<0.0167, one-way ANOVA with the Scheffe post-hoc analysis.

• 

  Fig. 3. Results of immunohistochemistry staining in perilesional area. The T20 group had significantly higher numbers of Hsp70-stained cells (A) and GFAP-stained cells (B) than the T0 group among the D3 groups in the perilesional area. On D7, the number of Hsp70-stained cells was significantly higher in the T20 group than in the T0 group (A). On D14, no significant difference was shown among the groups. The T20 group showed significantly higher numbers of Hsp70-stained cells (C) and GFAP-stained cells (D) than the T0 group among the D3 groups in the ipsilesional hippocampus. On D7 and D14, no significant difference among the groups was observed. Hsp70, heat shock protein 70; GFAP, glial fibrillary acidic protein; TBI, traumatic brain injury. *p<0.0167, one-way ANOVA with the Scheffe post-hoc analysis.

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