Regular exercise and creatine supplementation prevent chronic mild stress-induced decrease in hippocampal neurogenesis via Wnt/GSK3β/β-catenin pathway.

Purpose: Chronic stress can lead to mood-related psychomotor behaviors such as despair. Decreased hippocampal neurogenesis has been observed in patients with depression and in animal models of depression. Exercise enhances the population of the new born cells in the dentate gyrus (DG). A few studies have demonstrated that creatine has antidepressant effects in humans. However, the mechanism underpinning these effects is poorly understood. Therefore, we examined whether regular exercise and/or creatine was closely associated with the activity of the Wnt/GSK3β/β-catenin pathway in the hippocampal DG.

Methods: Mice were subjected to 4 weeks of chronic mild stress starting a week prior to the start of a 4-week protocol of treadmill running and creatine supplementation. Tail suspension (TST) and forced swimming tests (FST) were carried out 2 days after the final treadmill running session. Immunohistochemical and western blot analyses were conducted to evaluate hippocampal neurogenesis, GSK3β activity, and nuclear β-catenin protein levels in the DG. Furthermore, Wnt signaling antagonism in the DG using stereotaxic injection was performed.

Results: Chronic mild stress-induced increase in immobility in the TST and FST were restored by treadmill running and/or creatine supplementation. The number of Ki-67+ and doublecortin (DCX)+ cells were decreased by chronic stress, and this decline was reversed by the exercise and supplement regimen, along with the changes in GSK3β activity and nuclear β-catenin protein levels in the DG. Local antagonism of DG Wnt signaling caused an increase in immobility even 5 days after injection with C59.

Conclusion: Regular exercise combined with creatine supplementation had a greater effect on hippocampal neurogenesis via the Wnt/GSK3β/β-catenin pathway activation compared with each treatment in chronic mild stress-induced behavioral depression.