Dose-dependent effects of wheel running on cocaine-seeking and prefrontal cortex Bdnf exon IV expression in rats

Physical activity, and specifically exercise, has shown promise as an intervention for drug addiction; however, the exercise conditions that produce the most efficacious response, as well as its underlying mechanism, are unknown.

In this study, we examined the dose-dependent effects of wheel running, an animal model of exercise, during abstinence on subsequent cocaine-seeking and associated changes in prefrontal cortex (PFC) brain-derived neurotrophic factor (Bdnf) exon IV expression, a marker of epigenetic regulation implicated in cocaine relapse and known to be regulated by exercise.

Cocaine-seeking was assessed under a within-session extinction/cue-induced reinstatement procedure following extended access cocaine or saline self-administration (24-h/day, 4 discrete trials/h, 10 days, 1.5 mg/kg/infusion) and a 14-day abstinence period. During abstinence, rats had either locked or unlocked running wheel access for 1, 2, or 6 h/day. Bdnf exon IV expression was assessed using quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction.

Cocaine-seeking was highest under the locked wheel condition, and wheel running dose dependently attenuated this effect. Cocaine increased Bdnf exon IV expression, and wheel running dose dependently attenuated this increase, with complete blockade in rats given 6-h/day access. Notably, the efficacy of exercise was inversely associated with Bdnf exon IV expression, and both its efficacy and its effects on Bdnf exon IV expression were mimicked by treatment during abstinence with sodium butyrate, a histone deacetylase inhibitor that, like exercise, modulates gene transcription, including Bdnf exon IV expression.

Taken together, these results indicate that the efficacy of exercise is dose dependent and likely mediated through epigenetic regulation of PFC Bdnf.