The benefits of high-intensity physical exercise before and after Parkinson's disease induction in rats

High-intensity physical activity is a non-pharmacological intervention that has been tested as a treatment for Parkinson's disease (PD). The objective of the study was to investigate the benefits of high-intensity physical exercise on the number of neurons and astrocytes in a a rat model of Parkinson's disease submitted to training before and after the inducing injury. Seventy Wistar rats were used, distributed as follows: nine rats trained before PD induction (DP-Exa), nine trained after PD induction (DP-Exd), 10 trained before and after PD induction (DP-Exad), and nine sedentary rats (DP-Sed). There were also the same groups but with the rats exposed to the sham surgery (control). High-intensity physical exercise on a vertical ladder was performed before and/or after PD induction for 5 days/week, 30-45 min a day, for 4 weeks. PD was induced with an electrolytic lesion (AP -4.9, ML 1.7, and DV 8.1). At the end of the experiment, the brain was removed for Nissl staining and immunohistochemistry of glial fibrillary acidid protein (GFAP) in the substantia nigra and striatum. The DP-Exa, Sham-Exa, DP-Exad, and Sham-Exad groups showed a greater number of neurons and higher expression of GFAP in the substantia nigra and stiatum compared with the the DP-Exd, Sham-Exd, DP-Sed, and Sham-Sed groups. Thus, rats that performed high-intensity training before or before and after PD induction had higher densities of neurons and astrocytes.