Exercise protects against methamphetamine-induced aberrant neurogenesis

While no effective therapy is available for the treatment of methamphetamine (METH)-induced neurotoxicity, aerobic exercise is being proposed to improve depressive symptoms and substance abuse outcomes. The present study focuses on the effect of exercise on METH-induced aberrant neurogenesis in the hippocampal dentate gyrus in the context of the blood-brain barrier (BBB) pathology. Mice were administered with METH or saline by i.p. injections for 5 days with an escalating dose regimen. One set of mice was sacrificed 24 h post last injection of METH, and the remaining animals were either subjected to voluntary wheel running (exercised mice) or remained in sedentary housing (sedentary mice). METH administration decreased expression of tight junction (TJ) proteins and increased BBB permeability in the hippocampus. These changes were preserved post METH administration in sedentary mice and were associated with the development of significant aberrations of neural differentiation. Exercise protected against these effects by enhancing the protein expression of TJ proteins, stabilizing the BBB integrity, and enhancing the neural differentiation. In addition, exercise protected against METH-induced systemic increase in inflammatory cytokine levels. These results suggest that exercise can attenuate METH-induced neurotoxicity by protecting against the BBB disruption and related microenvironmental changes in the hippocampus.