Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a most common age-related neurodegenerative disease. AD is characterized by a progressive loss of neurons causing cognitive dysfunction. The cerebellum is closely associated with integration of movement, including motor coordination, control, and equilibrium. In the present study, we evaluated the effect of tread-mill exercise on the survival of Purkinje neurons in relation with reactive astrocyte in the cerebellum using Aβ25-35-induced AD rats. AD was induced by a bilateral intracerebroventricular (ICV) injection of Aβ25-35. The rats in the exercise groups were forced to run on a motorized treadmill for 30 min once a day for 4 weeks, starting 2 days after Aβ25-35 injection. In the present results, ICV injection of Aβ25-35 deteriorated motor coordination and balance. The number of calbindin-positive cells in the cerebellar vermis was decreased and glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP) expression in the cerebellar vermis was increased in the Aβ25-35-induced AD rats. Treadmill exercise improved motor coordination and balance. Treadmill exercise increased the number of Purkinje neurons and suppressed GFAP expression in the cerebellar vermis. The present study demonstrated that treadmill exercises alleviated dysfunction of motor coordination and balance by reduction of Purkinje cell loss through suppressing reactive astrocytes in the cerebellum of AD rats. The present study provides the possibility that treadmill exercise might be an important therapeutic strategy for the symptom improvement of AD patients.
Keywords: Alzheimer’s disease; Cerebellum; Motor coordination and balance; Purkinje neurons; Reactive astrocytes; Treadmill exercise.