The Effect of Endurance Training on Serum BDNF Levels in the Chronic Post-Stroke Phase: Current Evidence and Qualitative Systematic Review

Abstract

Research in modern neurorehabilitation focusses on cognitive and motor recovery programmes tailored to each stroke patient, with particular emphasis on physiological parameters. The objectives of this review were to determine whether a single bout of endurance activity or long-term endurance activity regulates exercise-dependent serum brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) levels and to evaluate the methodological quality of the studies. To assess the effectiveness of endurance exercise among patients in the chronic post-stroke phase, a systematic review was performed, including searching EBSCOhost, PEDro, PubMed, and Scopus for articles published up to the end of October 2021. The PRISMA 2020 outline was used, and this review was registered on PROSPERO. Of the 180 papers identified, seven intervention studies (comprising 200 patients) met the inclusion criteria. The methodological quality of these studies was evaluated by using the Physiotherapy Evidence Database (PEDro) criteria. The effect of exercise was evaluated in four studies with a single bout of endurance activity, two studies with long-term endurance activity, and one study with a single bout of endurance activity as well as long-term endurance activity. The results of our systematic review provide evidence that endurance exercise might augment the peripheral BDNF concentration in post-stroke individuals.

Combined Exercise and Vitamin D on Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor

“…Executive function is responsible for higher cognitive processes involved in managing other basic cognitive functions. Aerobic exercise is proposed to induce the expression of BDNF throughout the central nervous system, which in turn, can enhance synaptic plasticity (52). Research has consistently shown that aerobic exercise can elevate baseline BDNF levels in the hippocampus, striatum, and various cortical regions in laboratory animals [44].…”

“…Recent research indicates that the levels of BDNF, which increase after short-term exercise, can continue to rise with long-term aerobic exercise [51]. Longterm endurance training in humans has been shown to result in an increase in resting serum BDNF levels that persist over time [52]. In contrast, some studies have reported that the duration of aerobic exercise does not have a significant influence on resting levels of serum BDNF [51,53].…”