Effects of Aerobic Training on Caspase-3 Expression and Apoptosis in Hippocampus of Rats after Brain Ischemic Stroke

Although exercise is an effective strategy for preventing and treating stroke, the extent of this effect seems to depend on when exercise begins. Apoptosis plays a critical role after stroke. However, it is unclear whether early exercise inhibits apoptosis after stroke? The aim of this study was to determine the effect of eight weeks of early aerobic training after stroke induction on caspase-3 protein expression and apoptosis in the hippocampus of male Wistar rats.

In this experimental study, 32 adult male Wistar rats (weighting 210-252 gr) were purchased and randomly divided into four groups: sham, ischemia, training and ischemia+ training groups. Ischemia was induced by the occlusion of both common carotid arteries (CCA) for 45 min. Aerobic training was initiated at 24 hours after induction of ischemia, for eight weeks for 20-50 minutes and at a speed of 18-30 meters per minute in each session and five sessions per week. Forty eight hours after the last training session, rats were sacrificed, then using immunohistochemical staining technique of caspase-3 protein expression and the rate of cell apoptosis were measured by hematoxylin and eosinophil (H&E) staining method in hippocampus of rats.

The expression of caspase-3 protein and apoptosis in the hippocampus of rats in sham and training groups were significantly lower than in the ischemia and ischemia+ training groups (both; p<0.0001). Moreover, in the ischemia+ training group, the expression of caspase-3 protein and apoptosis showed a significant decrease compared to the ischemia group (p<0.0001).

Based on the results of this study, it can be said that eight weeks of early aerobic training can reduce the lesions induced-cerebral ischemia by reducing the expression of cell death-causing factors.