Age-dependent effect of treadmill exercise on hemorrhage-induced neuronal cell death in rats

Intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH) is a major cause of death and disability in the elderly. In the present study, we examined the age-dependence of the effect of treadmill exercise on the intrastriatal hemorrhage-induced neuronal cell death in rats. Young (8 weeks old) and old (64 weeks old) Sprague-Dawley male rats were used in the present study. Intrastriatal hemorrhage was induced by injection of 0.2 U collagenase (1 μL volume) into the striatum using a stereotaxic instrument. The rats in the exercise groups were forced to run on a treadmill for 30 min daily for 7 days. Lesion size was determined by Nissl staining. Apoptosis was assessed by the terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase-mediated dUTP nick end labeling (TUNEL) assay. In the present results, induction of hemorrhage increased lesion size and enhanced apoptosis. Treadmill exercise decreased the lesion size with suppressing apoptosis. However, the size of lesion induced by hemorrhage and the number of apoptotic cells were not different between young and old rats. Treadmill exercise significantly reduced the ICH-induced lesion size and the number of apoptotic cells irrespective of age. The data suggest that treadmill exercise may provide therapeutic value against ICH by suppressing neuronal apoptosis regardless of age.