Effect of Endurance Training with Saffron Consumption on PGC1-α Gene Expression in Hippocampus Tissue of Rats with Alzheimer’s Disease

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a type of cognitive impairment that disrupts the mitochondrial function and metabolism of neurons. Studies have shown that training is a potent factor in enhancing mitochondrial biogenesis and saffron with its antioxidant properties can improve neurodegenerative disorders effectively.

Accordingly, the aim of this study was to investigate the effect of endurance training (ET) with saffron consumption on peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor-γ coactivator (PGC-1α) gene expression in hippocampal tissue of rats with AD.

In this experimental study, 40 rats with AD (induced by 8 mg/kg trimethyltin (TMT) injection were divided into five groups of eight rats, including (1) AD control, (2) ET, (3) ET with saffron, (4) saffron, and (5) sham. To investigate the effects of AD induction on PGC1-α, eight healthy rats were assigned to the healthy control group. During eight weeks, groups 2 and 3 ran on a treadmill for eight weeks, three sessions per week, for 15 - 30 min at a speed of 15 - 20 m/min per session. Groups 3 and 4 received 25 mg/kg aqueous extract of saffron peritoneally. One-way ANOVA, Tukey’s post hoc, and two-way ANOVA tests were used for data analysis by SPSS software (P ≤ 0.05).

Alzheimer’s disease induction significantly reduced PGC1-α gene expression (P = 0.001) while ET significantly reduced PGC1-α gene expression (P = 0.01) in AD rats. Nevertheless, saffron significantly increased PGC1-α gene expression in AD rats (P = 0.001). The interaction of ET and saffron was significant in increasing PGC1-α gene expression in AD rats (P = 0.001).

It seems that ET and saffron consumption have interactive effects on the increase of PGC1-α gene expression in the hippocampal tissue of rats with AD.