Effect of voluntary exercise on cerebral dopamine neurotrophic factor (CDNF) level in the cerebral cortex of experimental model of parkinsonian rats induced by 6-hydroxydopamine

Daily physical activity can reduce the risk of Parkinson's disease. Therefore, the purpose of this research was to study the effect of wheel running exercise on CDNF level in cortex in an experimental model of rats exposed to 6-hydroxydopamine.
In this experimental study, 30 Wistar rats were randomly divided into four groups: healthy control, healthy exercise, Parkinsonian control, and Parkinsonian group that first exercised and then Parkinson’s model was induced (Practice-treated), respectively. Subjects in exercise group were kept in special cages geared with running wheels for 12 weeks. After 12 weeks, 6-OHDA was injected into the right ventricle of the brain and five days after intraventricular injection, sampling was performed and CDNF level of cerebral cortex was measured by ELISA method. Data were analyzed statistically by ANOVA test.
6-OHDA decreased CDNF protein content in the cerebral cortex of control subjects with Parkinson’s disease compared with healthy controls (p=0.017). CDNF level of Parkinson's exercise group was higher than that of Parkinsonian control group (p=0.002).
The findings of the present study show that pre-treatment with voluntary exercise can increase CDNF level of cerebral cortex and protect neurons versus oxidative destruction led by 6-OHDA toxicity. Therefore, voluntary exercise can be offered as a protection strategy against Parkinson's disease.