Strength training or green tea prevent memory deficits in a β-amyloid peptide-mediated Alzheimer's disease model

Antioxidant supplementation and physical exercise have been discussed as strategies to minimize neurodegeneration in Alzheimer's disease (AD). We investigated the neuroprotective effects of strength exercise (StrEx) and green tea (GT) supplementation, combined or not, on memory impairments induced by β-amyloid characterizing an AD-like condition in rats. Wistar rats were submitted to 8 weeks of StrEx, GT supplementation, or StrEx and GT combined. AD-like condition was induced by injection of Aβ (25-35) in the hippocampus. We evaluate object recognition (OR) and social recognition (SR) memory, and removed the rats' hippocampus for biochemical analysis. StrEx improved OR and SR. StrEx combined with GT improved OR and did not improve SR. GT reduced antioxidant capacity and improved acetylcholinesterase activity. Both strength exercise and green tea are neuroprotective against impairments resultant of β-amyloid, but benefits do not add up when the two interventions are associated.