Abstract: Objective To explore the effect of treadmill training on expression of glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP) and brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) after cerebral ischemia- reperfusion in rats. Methods 30 male Wistar rats were randomly divided into sham group, model group and treadmill training group, with 10 rats in each group. The latter 2 groups were modeled with middle cerebral artery occlusion for 2 hours and reperfusion. The treadmill training group underwent treadmill exercise on the 3rd day after modeling for 12 days. Neurological function was evaluated with modified Neurological Severity Scores (mNSS). The neuronal pathological change in ischemic cortex was observed with HE staining. The expressions of GFAP and BDNF in cortex were determined by Western blotting. Results Compared with the model group, the mNSS scores decreased in the treadmill training group (F=9.931, P<0.01), the pathological damage in the ischemia cortex significantly lessened, and the expressions of GFAP (t=6.73) and BDNF (t=3.78) increased (P<0.05). Conclusion Treadmill training may increase the expression of GFAP and BDNF after cerebral ischemia-reperfusion in rats, and promote the recovery of neurological function.

Key words: treadmill training, ischemia-reperfusion, glial fibrillary acidic protein, brain-derived neurotrophic factor, rats