The effect of gender on serum brain-derived neurotrophic factor at rest and in response to acute resistance exercise in elderly men and women

Despite conducted studies, the amount of difference for the proteins such as brain derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) that is involved in learning, memory and cognitive function in the elderly men and women is not clear. So, the aim of this study was to investigate the effect of gender on serum brain-derived neurotrophic factor at rest and in response to acute resistance exercise in elderly men and women.
In this study, 22 elderly men (60-75 years old; n=11) and elderly women (60-75 years old; 11) participated. 72 hours after the determination of the 1-RM, the subjects performed three resistance exercises by 75%1-RM. Blood samples were collected at rest, immediately and 30 min after the exercise. For statistical analysis, we used independent t-test, repeated measures ANOVA )2*3) and statistical significance was assumed p≤0.05.
The results of the study revealed that the amount of the based BDNF in elderly women was higher than the men. Additionally, the result showed that serum BDNF significantly increases immediately after the resistance exercise in both groups. However, 30 minutes after the activity, there were no significant increments in serum BDNF as compared to the baseline amount. On the other hand, the outputs of the statistical analyses revealed that gender has no significant effect on the response of the serum BDNF to the resistance exercise in the elderly men and women.
According to the results of this study, the baseline serum BDNF of the elderly women is higher than the elderly men. Additionally, the amount of this protein is increased in response to the resistance exercise. Gender has no effect on the response of the BDNF to the resistance exercise in the elderly people. Based on the results of this study, same exercise intervention has same effects on the serum BDNF and subsequent effects on the some functions such as learning, memory and cognitive function in elderly people. However, more studies are needed for this issue.