Running exercise protects against myelin breakdown in the absence of neurogenesis in the hippocampus of AD mice

Abstract

Neurogenesis might influence oligodendrogenesis and selectively instruct myelination in the mammalian brain. Running exercise could induce neurogenesis and protect the myelin sheaths in the dentate gyrus of AD mice. It is unclear whether running exercise can protect myelin sheaths in the absence of neurogenesis in the hippocampus of AD mice. Six-month-old male APP/PS1 transgenic mice were randomly assigned to a control group (Tg control) or a running group (Tg runner), and age-matched non-transgenic littermates were used as a wild-type group (WT control). The Tg runner mice were subjected to a running protocol for four months. The behaviors of the mice in the three groups were then assessed using the Morris water maze, and related quantitative parameters of the myelin sheaths within the CA1 field were investigated using unbiased stereological and electron microscopy techniques. Learning and spatial memory performance, CA1 volume, the volumes of the myelinated fibers, and myelin sheaths in the CA1 field were all significantly worse in the Tg control mice than in the WT control mice. Learning and spatial memory performance, CA1 volume and the volume of the myelin sheaths in the CA1 field were all significantly greater in the Tg runner mice than in the Tg control mice. These results reveal demyelinating lesions in the CA1 field of Alzheimer’s disease (AD) mice and indicate that running exercise could protect against myelin sheath degeneration in the absence of neurogenesis, thereby reducing CA1 atrophy and delaying the onset and progression of AD.