In the present study, we investigated the effects of treadmill exercise on inflammatory reaction in the substantia nigra of the Parkinson's rats. Parkinson's disease was made by injection of 6-hydroxydopamine (6-OHDA) into the striatum using 6-week-old male rats. The rats were divided into 4 groups: sham-operation group (n=10), sham-operation and exercise group (n=10), 6-OHDA-injection group (n=10), and 6-OHDA-injection and exercise group (n=10). The animals in the exercise groups were put on the treadmill to run for 30 minutes once a day for 14 consecutive days, starting 4 weeks after 6-OHDA injection. For the detection of inflammatory reaction in the substantia nigra, immunohistochemistry for cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) and inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) was performed. The number of COX-2-positive cells in substantia nigra was 54.19±3.68 in the sham-operation group, 42.94±3.01 in the sham-operation and exercise group, 98.22±4.73 in the 6-OHDA-injection group, and 61.78±3.86 in the 6-OHDA-injection and exercise group. The number of iNOS-positive cells in substantia nigra was 57.93±3.38 in the sham-operation group, 51.64±5.17 in the sham-operation and exercise group, 126.56±7.04 in the 6-OHDA-injection group, and 92.69±8.28 in the 6-OHDA-injection and exercise group. In the present results, 6-OHDA injection increased inflammatory reaction in the substantia nigra, and treadmill exercise alleviated the expression of COX-2 and iNOS in the substantia nigra. These results suggest that treadmill exercise may ameliorate inflammatory reaction in the Parkinson's disease patients.
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