The Effects of Resistance Training With the Consumption of Saffron Extract on Spatial Memory and Tau Accumulation in the Hippocampal Tissue of Male Alzheimer's Induced Rats

Alzheimer's disease is a progressive, degenerative brain disease that causes severe thinking and memory impairment, and there is no definitive treatment for this disease. The present study aimed to investigate the effect of resistance training along with the consumption of saffron extract on spatial memory and tau accumulation in the hippocampal tissue of Alzheimer's male rats.

In this experimental study, 40 adult male rats were randomly divided into 4 Alzheimer's groups, including control, resistance exercise, resistance exercise, and supplement. Alzheimer's was induced by injecting amyloid beta 42-1 into the hippocampus. Resistance exercises were performed for 12 weeks, including three sessions per week. Y Maze test was used to measure spatial memory, and Tau protein was measured by the ELISA method. One-way analysis of variance tests was used to analyze the data.

 The results showed that after 12 weeks of resistance training with saffron supplement, there was a significant increase in spatial memory performance in the intervention groups compared to the control group (P < 0.5). Also, regarding the amount of tau protein accumulation in the aerobic exercise group, aerobic exercise, and extract showed a significant decrease compared to the control group (P < 0.5).

It seems that resistance exercise and consumption of saffron extract improve spatial memory performance and reduce the accumulation of tau protein in the hippocampal tissue of Alzheimer's male rats.