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. 2019 Sep 24:11:179-188.
doi: 10.2147/NSS.S207339. eCollection 2019.

Benefit effect of REM-sleep deprivation on memory impairment induced by intensive exercise in male wistar rats: with respect to hippocampal BDNF and TrkB

Sarah Mahboubi  1 , Mohammad Nasehi  2 , Alireza Imani  3   4 , Mitra-Sadat Sadat-Shirazi  1   2   3   4   5 , Mohammad-Reza Zarrindast  5   6   7 , Nasim Vousooghi  1 , Maryam Noroozian  1   2   3   4   5   6   7   8
Affiliations

Benefit effect of REM-sleep deprivation on memory impairment induced by intensive exercise in male wistar rats: with respect to hippocampal BDNF and TrkB

Sarah Mahboubi et al. Nat Sci Sleep. .

Abstract

Background: Many factors affect our learning and memory quality, but according to different studies, having a positive or negative impact pertains to their characteristics like intensity or the amount.

Purpose: The present study was conducted to investigate the effect of 24-hour REM-sleep deprivation on continuous-high intensity forced exercise-induced memory impairment and its effect on Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor (BDNF) and Tyrosine kinase B (TrkB) levels in the hippocampus and Prefrontal Cortex area (PFC).

Material and methods: Animals were conditioned to run on treadmills for 5 weeks then, were deprived of sleep for 24 h using the modified multiple platforms. The effect of intensive exercise and/or 24-h REM-SD was studied on behavioral performance using Morris Water Maze protocol for 2 days, and BDNF/TrkB levels were assessed in hippocampus and PFC after behavioral probe test using western blotting.

Results: After 5 weeks of intensive exercise and 24-h REM-SD, spatial memory impairment and reduction of BDNF and TrkB levels were found in hippocampus and PFC. 24-h REM-SD improved memory impairment and intensive exercise-induced downregulation of BDNF and TrkB protein levels.

Conclusion: The results of the study suggested that sleep deprivation might act as a compensatory factor to reduce memory impairment when the animal is under severe stressful condition.

Keywords: BDNF; TrkB; hippocampus; intensive exercise; prefrontal cortex; sleep deprivation; spatial memory.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors report no conflicts of interest in this work.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
The schematic timeline for study design. Two groups of animals received 5 weeks of physical exercise with a gradual increase in intensity (5 weeks, 5 days in a week); one of these groups (ExSd), 1 day after the last session of exercise received 24-hr REM-SD and other one went for MWM test. SD24 received 24-hr REM-SD after trial day of MWM and then probe test was performed. Control animals received nothing but MWM test. All animals were sacrificed after the visual test and their brain was collected for Western blotting test. Abbreviations: SD, sleep deprivation; MWM, Morris water maze.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Effect of 24-hr REM-SD on memory impairment induced by intensive exercise. After 5 weeks of intensive exercise, ExSd group of animals received eight trials in a day and immediately went under 24-hr REM-SD. (A) Escape latency, (B) traveled distance and (C) swimming speed across eight trials. Values are given as mean±SEM for each experimental group. Probe test was done immediately after the 24-hr REM-SD. (D) Percentage of time spent in target quadrant. Data are shown as mean±SEM. *p˂ 0.05 and **p˂0.01 different from the control group. #p˂ 0.05 different from the Exercised group. ^^^p˂ 0.001 different from the 24h REM-SD group. Each bar represents mean±SEM per group. (E) Escape latency during non-spatial visible platform test. p>0.05 NS (not significant). Abbreviations: Ex, Exercised group; SD24, 24-hr REM-sleep deprivation; ExSd, Exercised-Sleep deprivation group; REM-SD, REM Sleep Deprivation.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Effect of 24-hr REM-SD on the level of BDNF in the Ex group in the (A) hippocampus and (B) prefrontal cortex. Values are expressed as the means±SEM (n=5 for each group); effect of 24-hr REM-SD on the decreased level of TrkB in Ex group in (C) hippocampus and (D) prefrontal area in the rat. *P˂ 0.05, **P˂ 0.01 and ***P˂ 0.001 versus control, ^^p<0.01, ^^^P˂ 0.001 versus SD24 group and ###P˂ 0.001 versus Ex group. Abbreviations: Ex, exercised group; SD24, 24-hr REM-sleep deprivation; ExSd, Exercised-Sleep deprivation group; BDNF, brain-derived neurotrophic factor; TrkB, Tyrosine kinase B.
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