The Protective Effect of Voluntary Exercise on the Hippocampal Cerebral Dopamine Neurotrophic Factor Level against Intraventricular Injection of 6-hydroxydopamine in Rats

Background & Aims: The purpose of this research was to study the protective effect of pretreatment with a voluntary exercise on hippocampal level of cerebral dopamine neurotrophic factor (CDNF) after damage induced by intraventricular injection of 6–hydroxydopamine (6-OHDA) in rats. Methods: In this experimental study, 24 Wistar rats were randomly divided into 4 groups of healthy control, healthy exercise, Parkinson control, and Parkinson training group (6 rats in each group). The rats in the training group were kept in special cages with running wheels for 12 weeks .After 12 weeks, 6-OHDA was injected into the right ventricle of the brain and five days after intraventricular injection, sampling was performed and CDNF level of the hippocampus was measured by ELISA method. Data were analyzed and compared statistically by ANOVA test. Results: Findings showed that 6-OHDA has decreased CDNF protein content in the hippocampus of Parkinsonian rats compared with healthy controls (P = 0.011). CDNF level of the Parkinson training group was higher than the Parkinson control group (P = 0.050). Conclusion: The findings of the present study show that pretreatment with voluntary exercise can increase CDNF level in the hippocampus, and thus, increase neuronal resistance against oxidative destruction caused by 6-OHDA toxicity. Therefore, it can be said that it has protective effects against Parkinson disease