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Updated: Jul 1, 2025

Author Spotlight: Enhancing the Offspring Health in Rats with Maternal Exercise During Pregnancy
Published on: April 5, 2024
Exercise before pregnancy exerts protective effect on prenatal stress-induced impairment of memory, neurogenesis, and
Tae-Woon Kim1, Sang-Seo Park2, Sang-Hoon Kim3,4
1Department of Human Health Care, Gyeongsang National University, Jinju, Korea.
Stress during pregnancy has a negative effect on the fetus. However, maternal exercise has a positive effect on the cognitive function of the fetus and alleviates the negative effects of stress. This study aimed to demonstrate whether exercise before pregnancy has a protective effect on prenatal stress-induced impairment of memory, neurogenesis and mitochondrial function in mice offspring. In this experiment, immunohistochemistry, Western blot, measurement of mitochondria oxygen respiration, and behavior tests were performed. Spatial memory and short-term memory of the offspring from the prenatal stress with exercise were increased compared to the offspring from the prenatal stress. The numbers of doublecortin-positive and 5-bromo-2'-deoxyuridine-positive cells in the hippocampal dentate gyrus of the offspring from the prenatal stress with exercise were higher compared to the offspring from the prenatal stress. The expressions of brain-derived neurotrophic factor, postsynaptic density 95 kDa, and synaptophysin in the hippocampus of the offspring from the prenatal stress with exercise were enhanced compared to the offspring from the prenatal stress. Oxygen consumption of the offspring from the prenatal stress with exercise were higher compared to the offspring from the prenatal stress. Exercise before pregnancy alleviated prenatal stress-induced impairment of memory, neurogenesis, and mitochondrial function. Therefore, exercise before pregnancy may have a protective effect against prenatal stress of the offspring.
Stress during pregnancy has a negative effect on the fetus. However, maternal exercise has a positive effect on the cognitive function of the fetus and alleviates the negative effects of stress. This study aimed to demonstrate whether exercise before pregnancy has a protective effect on prenatal stress-induced impairment of memory, neurogenesis and mitochondrial function in mice offspring. In this experiment, immunohistochemistry, Western blot, measurement of mitochondria oxygen respiration, and behavior tests were performed. Spatial memory and short-term memory of the offspring from the prenatal stress with exercise were increased compared to the offspring from the prenatal stress. The numbers of doublecortin-positive and 5-bromo-2'-deoxyuridine-positive cells in the hippocampal dentate gyrus of the offspring from the prenatal stress with exercise were higher compared to the offspring from the prenatal stress. The expressions of brain-derived neurotrophic factor, postsynaptic density 95 kDa, and synaptophysin in the hippocampus of the offspring from the prenatal stress with exercise were enhanced compared to the offspring from the prenatal stress. Oxygen consumption of the offspring from the prenatal stress with exercise were higher compared to the offspring from the prenatal stress. Exercise before pregnancy alleviated prenatal stress-induced impairment of memory, neurogenesis, and mitochondrial function. Therefore, exercise before pregnancy may have a protective effect against prenatal stress of the offspring.
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