Cellular Adaptation to Ischemia; Ischemic Conditioning to Confer Neuroprotective Benefits in Mild Cognitive Impairment and Alzheimer’s disease

Small, controlled doses of ischemia induced in a healthy limb has been demonstrated to strengthen the body’s tolerance to larger more toxic doses. Ischemic conditioning utilising protocols of remote ischemic conditioning (RIC) and physiological ischemic training (PIT) trigger mechanisms of cellular adaptation to ischemia. These protocols may represent practical and translatable therapies for neurological diseases, such as mild cognitive impairment and Alzheimer’s disease, that have an ischemic or inflammatory basis. Whilst the current literature supports the neuroprotective and anti-hypertensive effects of RIC and PIT, to date there has been no investigation into the effects of PIT utilising isometric exercise training (IET) on cognitive performance outcomes in an elderly neuropathological cohort. However, it seems feasible that the anti-hypertensive effects elicited through IET might be a stimulus for improvements in systemic and neurovascular circulation and as a result, enhanced cognitive performance.