Effect of Endurance Exercise and Methamphetamine Administration on the Expression of Blood-Brain Barrier Related Factors and BDNF in Hippocampus of Male Sprague-Dawley Rat

PURPOSE: This study aimed to investigate the effect of short-term endurance exercise and methamphetamine administration on blood-brain barrier (BBB)-related marker and brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) in the hippocampus of male Sprague-Dawley (SD) rats. METHODS: Forty male SD-rats were randomly assigned to 4 groups and treated for 2 weeks. For the methamphetamine group, 1 mg/ kg (+)-S-Methamphetamine hydrochloride (METH) was intraperitoneally injected daily, and an endurance exercise was performed at 21 m/min for 60 minutes. All treatments were performed daily, and METH or saline was administered after exercise. After 2 weeks of treatment, the head was decapitated under anesthesia, and the hippocampus was separated for western blotting. RESULTS: Two weeks of endurance exercise significantly increased the expression of occludin and claudin-5 in the hippocampus of the rats. Similarly, phosphorylation of CREB/BDNF and AKT/GSK3 signaling pathways were significantly increased. This phenomenon was also observed in the exercise and METH co-treatment groups. However, the single treatment of 1 mg/kg METH did not affect tight junction protein and BDNF expression. CONCLUSIONS: Endurance exercise increased the expression of BBB-related proteins and neurogenesis-related molecules, which were not inhibited by METH administration.