neuroprotective effect of voluntary exercise on dopamine and tyrosine hydroxylase in the striatum of parkinsonian rats

introduiction: this study aimed to investigate the protective effects of 12-week voluntary exercise using a running wheel on the striatum  dopaminergic neurons against 6-hydroxydopamine lesions in rats. materials and method: twenty five rats were divided into three groups including healthy, parkinson and training-parkinson. the training groups were housed in individual cages geared with running wheels. to induce parkinson, 250 microlitre of 6-hydroxydopamine (6-ohda) dissolved in saline was administered intracerebrovenricular (icv) by a stereotaxic apparatus. tyrosine hydroxylase and dopamine levels in the striatum were measured by elisa. the obtained data was analyzed using one-way analysis of variance (anova) and least significant difference (lsd) post-hoc test. results: the mean running distance of subjects was 5384 meter per day.in this study, dopamine levels between the exercise and parkinson control groups had significant differences. in other words, a decrease in the dopamine level was prevented in the training group (p=0.001). dopamine levels in the exercise group remained almost the same level as the healthy group (p=0.129). however, the tyrosine hydroxylase level did not change in the training and control groups. conclusion:pre-treatment with the voluntary exercise causes an increase in the strength and life-span of dopaminergic neurons striatum against oxidative damage caused by 6-ohda toxicity, and has a protective role against parkinson’s disease.