Voluntary running provides neuroprotection in rats after 6-hydroxydopamine injection into the medial forebrain bundle.

Neurotoxic drugs such as 6-hydroxydopamine (6-OHDA) have been used to mimic a Parkinsonian state in a rat model. The toxic effect of 6-OHDA has been shown to be reduced in rats that were forced to use the impaired limb immediately after unilateral 6-OHDA injection. The aim of this study was to determine whether dopamine neurons in the substantia nigra are spared in rats that exercise voluntary. Two groups of rats were placed in cages with attached running wheels 7 days prior to injection of 6-OHDA (10 microg/4 microL saline) into the medial forebrain bundle. The running wheels of the control group were immobilized for the duration of the study. After 6-OHDA injection, the rats were returned to their respective cages where they remained for a further period of 14 days. Wheel revolutions during free running were recorded daily in the experimental group. At the end of this period the rats were injected with apomorphine (0.5 mg/kg, s.c.) and the number and direction of rotations was recorded. Rats that exercised in the running wheels did not rotate contralaterally in response to apomorphine injection, suggesting that dopamine neurons had been spared sufficiently from the toxic effects of 6-OHDA injection to prevent upregulation of postsynaptic dopamine receptors in the striatum.