The Effect of Endurance Training with Crocin Consumption on IGF-1 and Glycogen Expression in Rat Hippocampus Tissue of Trimethyltin-Treated Model of Alzheimer’s Disease

Alzheimer’s disease is one of the most common causes of dementia with metabolic disorders in the nervous system. Nutrition and physical activity are two main factors in the management of this disease. The aim of the present study was to investigate the effect of endurance training with crocin consumption on IGF-1 and glycogen expression in rat hippocampus tissue of a trimethyltin-treated model of Alzheimer’s disease.

In this experimental study, 30 male rats were selected and divided into 5 groups of 6 rats including (1) healthy control, (2) Alzheimer’s control, (3) endurance training, (4) crocin and (5) endurance training with crocin. At first, rats in groups 2 - 5 were induced Alzheimer’s disease by intraperitoneal injection of 8 mg/kg of trimethyltin. Then, during 8 weeks, rats in groups 3, 5, ran on treadmill for 3 sessions per week, each session 15 - 30 minutes at speeds of 15 - 20 m/min and groups 4 and 5 received 25 mg/kg of crocin daily. The results were analyzed by Shapiro-Wilk test and one-way ANOVA with Tukey post hoc (P ≤ 0.05).

Alzheimer’s induction with trimethyltin had a significant effect on reduction of IGF-1 gene expression (P = 0.001) and glycogen (P = 0.001); endurance training had a significant effect on increase of IGF-1 (P = 0.001) and glycogen (P = 0.001); crocin consumption had no significant effect on IGF-1 (P = 0.48) and glycogen (P = 0.39); endurance training with crocin consumption had significant effect on increase of IGF-1 (P = 0.001) and glycogen (P = 0.02) as well as endurance training (P = 0.001) and endurance training with crocin consumption rather than crocin consumption had significant effect on increase of IGF-1.

Although endurance training results in a significant increase in IGF-1 and glycogen in the hippocampus tissue of Alzheimer’s rats, nonetheless, the use of crocin in combination with endurance training rather than crocin consumption alone can have a greater effect on increased IGF-1 content of the hippocampus in rats with Alzheimer’s.