The effects of exercise on oxidative stress (TBARS) and BDNF in severely depressed inpatients

Abstract

Exercise can be an effective treatment for depression. Although the efficacy of exercise is well established, little is known concerning the biological changes associated with the antidepressant effects of exercise. A randomized, controlled trial was conducted to evaluate the effects of adding exercise to the usual treatment on the thiobarbituric acid-reactive substances (TBARS) and brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) serum levels of severely depressed inpatients. Twenty-six participants were randomized to an exercise group (n=15, exercise+treatment as usual) or a control group (n=11, treatment as usual). The participants in the exercise group completed a targeted dose of 16.5 kcal/kg/week of aerobic exercise, three times per week, throughout their hospitalizations. The control group did not exercise during their hospitalizations. The mean hospitalization length was of 21.63 (4.5)×23.82 (5.7) days for exercise and control groups, respectively. The exercise group performed a median of nine sessions. After adjusting for previous tobacco use, a significant group×time interaction was found for TBARS serum levels (p=0.02). A post hoc Bonferroni test revealed differences between the exercise and control groups at discharge. A significant time effect (p<0.001) but no group×time interaction was found (p=0.13) for BDNF serum levels. Adding exercise to the usual treatment of severely depressed inpatients decreases the TBARS serum levels of severely depressed inpatients after 3 weeks. Adding exercise had no additional effects on BDNF serum levels.

Exercise and severe major depression: Effect on symptom severity and quality of life at discharge in an inpatient cohort

“…The biological mechanism involves changes in metabolism and the function of several biomarkers such as serotonin (Wipfli et al, 2011), beta-endorphins (Dishman andO'Connor, 2009, Heyman et al, 2012) endocannabinoids (Dietrich andMcDaniel, 2004, Heyman, Gamelin, 2012), brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) (Gustafsson et al, 2009, Laske et al, 2010, Schuch et al, 2014, Toups et al, 2011 oxidative stress, and inflammation Baune, 2012, Eyre et al, 2013). Genetic pathways, such as pleiotropy or gene-by-exercise interactions, also appear to be possible explanations related to the antidepressant effects of exercise (de Geus and de Moor, 2008).…”

Effects of a single bout of maximal aerobic exercise on BDNF in bipolar disorder: A gender-based response

“…Each model included terms for time, pretest serum BDNF levels, other covariates, interactions between covariates and time; nonsignificant covariates were excluded from the model. The following covariates, selected based on previous literature, were tested: age, maximal oxygen consumption (VO 2 max ), Body Mass Index (BMI) (Toups et al, 2011;Schuch et al, 2014), and presence of manic-depressive episode (Fernandes et al, 2011). Furthermore, the interaction between group, time, and gender was assessed based on previous studies (Schmidt-Kassow et al, 2012).…”

Aerobic Exercise Does Not Predict Brain Derived Neurotrophic Factor And Cortisol Alterations in Depressed Patients

“…Also, due to the importance of the HPA axis in depression, studies are needed to examine the activity of the HPA axis and its interaction with plasmatic BDNF. Schuch et al [117] showed no difference in plasma BDNF levels after treatment associated with aerobic exercise of moderate to vigorous intensity. All patients (15 exercise and 11 control) received concurrently other therapies such as pharmacotherapy and electroconvulsive therapy (ECT).…”

“…There are few studies that analyzed the relationship between serum BDNF levels and aerobic exercise in patients with depression [113][114][115][116][117] (for review, see Tables 1 and 2). Gustafsson et al [113] evaluated the response of plasma BDNF during incremental cycloergometer test.…”