Effects of treadmill exercise on memory and c-Fos expression in the hippocampus of the rats with intracerebroventricular injection of streptozotocin

Alzheimer's disease is a progressive neurodegenerative disease clinically characterized by dementia and neurobehavioral deterioration. Hippocampal neurons are vulnerable to injury induced by Alzheimer's disease. The immediate early gene c-Fos has been used as a marker of neuronal activity. In the present study, we investigated the effects of treadmill exercise on long-term memory capacity and c-Fos expression in the hippocampus of rats with Alzheimer's disease. The rat model of Alzheimer's disease used in the present study was induced by the intracerebroventricular (ICV) injection of streptozotocin (STZ) using a stereotaxic instrument. The rats in the exercise group were forced to run on a treadmill for 30 min once daily for 14 consecutive days starting at 3 days after the ICV injection of STZ. The results of the present study showed that ICV injection of STZ impaired long-term memory capacity and decreased the number of c-Fos-positive cells in several regions of the rat hippocampus. However, treadmill exercise alleviated long-term memory deficits and enhanced c-Fos expression in the rats with ICV injection of STZ. The results of the present study showed that treadmill exercise could be a useful strategy for treating several neurodegenerative diseases.