Effects of long-term post-ischemic treadmill exercise on gliosis in the aged gerbil hippocampus induced by transient cerebral ischemia

Therapeutic exercise is an integral component of the rehabilitation of patients who have suffered a stroke. The objective of the present study was to use immunohistochemistry to investigate the effects of post-ischemic exercise on neuronal damage or death and gliosis in the aged gerbil hippocampus following transient cerebral ischemia. Aged gerbils (male; age, 22–24 months) underwent ischemia and were subjected to treadmill exercise for 1 or 4 weeks. Neuronal death was detected in the stratum pyramidale of the hippocampal CA1 region and in the polymorphic layer of the dentate gyrus using cresyl violet and Fluoro-Jade B histofluorescence staining. No significant difference in neuronal death was identified following 1 or 4 weeks of post-ischemic treadmill exercise. However, post-ischemic treadmill exercise affected gliosis (the activation of astrocytes and microglia). Glial fibrillary acidic protein-immunoreactive astrocytes and ionized calcium binding adaptor molecule 1-immunoreactive microglia were activated in the CA1 and polymorphic layer of the dentate gyrus of the group without treadmill exercise. Conversely, 4 weeks of treadmill exercise significantly alleviated ischemia-induced astrocyte and microglial activation; however, 1 week of treadmill exercise did not alleviate gliosis. These findings suggest that long-term post-ischemic treadmill exercise following transient cerebral ischemia does not influence neuronal protection; however, it may effectively alleviate transient cerebral ischemia-induced astrocyte and microglial activation in the aged hippocampus.