A Study on the Protective Effects and Mechanism of Water Maze Training on Senile Dementia Rats

Objective To investigate the preventive effect and mechanism of water maze drill( WMD) on senile dementia rats. Methods 48 SD rats were randomly divided into control group,model group,short-term drill group of water- maze( WMDS) and long- term drill group of water- maze( WMDL); AD models were built by cutting the relation of fornix and hippocampal fimbria. After the WMD,the brains were removed and hippocampal homogenate was prepared. Then enzyme linked immunosorbent assay( ELISA) was adopted to measure the level of TNF- αin the hippocampus,colorimetric method to detect superoxide dismutase( SOD) activity and malondialdehyde( MDA) content in tissue homogenate,and the learning ability of rats was evaluated. Results TNF- α levels and malondialdehyde( MDA) content in model group rats increased significantly than those in the control group( P 0. 01),while superoxide dismutase( SOD) activity decreased significantly( P 0. 05); TNF- α and MDA in short- term and long- term training group of water maze were significantly higher than those in the control group( P 0. 05),while superoxide dismutase( SOD) activity decreased( P 0. 01); TNF- α and MDA,in short- term and long- term training groups of water maze were significantly reduced than those in the model group( P 0. 05),while superoxide dismutase( SOD) activity was significantly increased( P 0. 01); and short- term training group and long- term training group TNF- α levels( MDA) content( SOD) showed significant differences( P 0. 05). Conclusion The water maze training can enhance the content of SOD in the hippocampus animal. It is beneficial to the senile dementia to a certain extent by reducing the inflammatory mediators TNF- α levels and achieving antioxidant effects.