Endurance exercise training promotes angiogenesis in the brain of chronic/progressive mouse model of Parkinson's Disease.

GOALS AND
OBJECTIVES: The main goal of this study is to evaluate the effect of treadmill exercise on the angiogenesis markers in the striatum (ST) of chronic/progressive parkinsonian mice.
MATERIALS AND METHODS: Forty 57BL/6 albino mice were randomly divided into four groups. Sedentary control (SC, n=10), exercise control (ExC, n=10), sedentary Parkinson's (SPD, n=10), and exercised Parkinson's (ExPD, n=10). Parkinsonism was induced by the injection with 10 doses of 1-methyl-4-phenyl-1,2,3,6-tetrahydropyridine, (25 mg/kg) and probenecid (250 mg/kg) over 5 weeks, three days and half a part. Following the induction of parkinsonism, ExPD and ExC animal groups were trained on a modified human treadmill at a speed of 18 m/min, 0 degrees of inclination, 40 min/day, 5 days/week for 4~weeks. The remaining two groups (SPD and SC) were housed in cages for the same period. At the end of the experiment, the angiogenesis markers; Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor (VEGF) and CD34 were examined in the striatum in the four animal groups.
RESULTS: PD resulted in a significant decrease in blood vessel density with the comparison between the sedentary control and PD model animals (p < 0.005). Four weeks of treadmill exercise training significantly increased angiogenesis in the striatum in ExPD groups (p < 0.05). Exercise also induced an increase in blood vessel density in the striatum of the control animals, but the change was not significant (P < 0.3).
CONCLUSION: These data suggest that 4 weeks of treadmill exercise promoted angiogenesis in the brain of chronic Parkinsonian mice, which can partially explain the beneficial role exercise in patients with PD. Further studies are required to determine the mechanism of exercise-induced angiogenesis in PD.