Running exercise reduces dendritic spine loss in medial prefrontal cortex of double transgenic APP/PS1 mice

Abstract

Objective To investigate the effect of running exercise on the number of dendritic spines in the medial prefrontal cortex in an APP/PS1 double transgenic mouse model of Alzheimer's disease (AD). Methods Twelve-month-old male APP/PS1 transgenic mice were randomly divided into control group and running exercise group (n=10), and 10 wild-type littermates of the transgenic mice served as the wild-type control group. The mice in the running exercise group were subjected to forced running exercise for 4 months. The spatial learning and memory abilities of the mice were tested using Morris water maze test, and the total number of the dendritic spines in the medial prefrontal cortex was accurately determined using a unbiased stereological method. Results In the hidden platform task, the escape latency was significantly longer in the control group than in the wild-type control group and the running exercise group (F=15.738, P < 0.001). In the probe task, the frequency of platform location crosses, the time spending in the target quadrant and the percentage distance in the target quadrant all differed significantly among the 3 groups (P < 0.001). The total number of dendritic spines in the medial prefrontal cortex was significantly smaller in the control group than in the running exercise group (P=0.029) and the wild-type control group (P=0.005). Conclusion Running exercise can reduce dendritic spine loss in the medial prefrontal cortex of APP/PS1 transgenic mouse models of AD.

Keywords

• app/ps1 transgenic mice
• medial prefrontal cortex
• dendritic spine
• stereology