Exercise training on functional recovery and the level of expression of GAP-43,MAP-2 after focal cerebral ischemia/reperfusion in rats

Objective:To observe the effect of exercise training on the functional outcome and measure the level of expression of growth-associated protein(GAP-43)and microtubule-associated protein(MAP-2)which are associated with neurite plasticity after focal cerebral ischemia/reperfusion in the rat.Method:After120min of middle cerebral artery occlusion(MCAO)and24hours of reperfusion,the swimming training group rats swam in a pool for10min daily while the control group was without any treatment.Animals were exmined every other day using two different behavioral test to assess sensorimotor function.Brains from the MCAO rats of swimming training,the control,the sham and normal were processed by immunohistochemistry with monoclonal antibodies against GAP-43and MAP-2respectively.Result:There was improvement in the score of behavioral test in swimming training group compared with the control.Immunostaining showed increase in both GAP-43and MAP-2immunoreactivity in ischemic boundary zone in swimming group with a statistic significance(P0.05).Conclusion:Early swimming training can improve behavioral outcome of MCAO rats.The function enhancement may be partially due to the upregulation of GAP-43and MAP-2which are concomitant with neurite outgrowth.