Alzheimer's disease (AD) is associated with increased depression-related behaviours. Previous studies have reported a greater risk of AD and depression in women. In recent years, we and others have provided evidence that exercise during life could be used as a therapeutic strategy for stress-related disorders such as depression. The main goal of the current study was to determine whether treadmill exercise during life can reduce depression-related behaviours in male and female Wistar rats with sporadic Alzheimer-like disease (ALD). Animals were subjected to treadmill exercise eight weeks before and four weeks after ALD induction by streptozocin (STZ). We measured body weight, food intake, and depression-related symptoms in rats using five behavioural tests. We measured brain-derived-neurotrophic factor (BDNF), tumour-necrosis factor (TNF)-α, and interleukin (IL)-10 levels in the hippocampus and prefrontal cortex of animals. Our findings showed that exercise but not ALD induction decreased body weight and food intake in male and female rats. ALD induction increased depression-related symptoms and hippocampal TNF-α in male and female rats. Besides, treadmill exercise alone decreased depression-related behaviours and increased hippocampal BDNF in females but not males. We also found that treadmill exercise decreased depression-related behaviours and TNF-α in the hippocampus and prefrontal cortex, and increased IL-10 in the prefrontal cortex and BDNF in the hippocampus of female ALD-induced rats. However, treadmill exercise only reduced anhedonia-like behaviour and hippocampal TNF-α in male ALD-induced rats. Overall, the evidence from this study suggests that treadmill exercise alters depression-related behaviours, brain BDNF and cytokines in a sex-dependant manner in rats with sporadic Alzheimer-like disease.

阿尔茨海默病 (AD) 与抑郁相关行为的增加有关。以前的研究报告说，女性患 AD 和抑郁症的风险更大。近年来，我们和其他人提供的证据表明，生活中的锻炼可以作为治疗压力相关疾病（如抑郁症）的一种策略。本研究的主要目的是确定生命中的跑步机运动是否可以减少患有散发性阿尔茨海默病 (ALD) 的雄性和雌性 Wistar 大鼠的抑郁相关行为。动物在链脲佐菌素 (STZ) 诱导 ALD 前 8 周和 4 周后进行跑步机运动。我们使用五项行为测试测量了大鼠的体重、食物摄入和抑郁相关症状。我们测量了脑源性神经营养因子 (BDNF)、肿瘤坏死因子 (TNF)-α和白细胞介素 (IL)-10 在动物海马和前额叶皮层中的水平。我们的研究结果表明，运动而非 ALD 诱导会降低雄性和雌性大鼠的体重和食物摄入量。ALD 诱导增加了雄性和雌性大鼠的抑郁相关症状和海马 TNF- α 。此外，单独的跑步机运动减少了女性的抑郁相关行为并增加了女性的海马BDNF，而不是男性。我们还发现，跑步机运动降低了雌性 ALD 诱导的大鼠海马和前额叶皮质中的抑郁相关行为和 TNF- α ，并增加了前额叶皮质中的 IL-10 和海马中的 BDNF。然而，跑步机运动只能减少快感缺乏样行为和海马 TNF- α在雄性 ALD 诱导的大鼠中。总体而言，这项研究的证据表明，在患有散发性阿尔茨海默病的大鼠中，跑步机运动以性别依赖的方式改变了与抑郁相关的行为、脑 BDNF 和细胞因子。