Abstract: Objective To observe the interactive effects of early exercise and γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA) receptor antagonists on the neurologic function and brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) expression in the cerebral ischemia-reperfusion (I/R) rat model. Methods Male Sprague-Dawley rats were divided into sham (n = 10), I/R (n = 10), exercise (EX) (n = 10), pentetrazol (PTZ) (n = 10) and pentetrazol plus exercise (PTZEX) (n = 10) groups. All the rats, except the sham group, accepted middle cerebral artery occlusion (MCAO) for one hour and reperfused. Since two days after reperfusion, PTZ and PTZEX groups accepted PTZ, a GABA receptor antagonist, 0.25 mg/kg peritoneal injection, once a day for five days; while EX and PTZEX groups ran on a treadmill, 30 minutes a day for five days. Seven days after reperfusion, all the rats were assessed with neurobehavioral score, the infarct volumes were assessed with TTC, and BDNF expression in ischemic penumbra was detected with reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction and ELISA. Results Compared with I/R group, the neurobehavioral scores of EX group, PTZ group and PTZEX group improved, the volumes of cerebral infarction reduced (P < 0.05), and PTZEX group was the best (P < 0.05). The expression of BNDF was the most in PTZEX group (P < 0.05). Conclusion Early exerxise combined with PTZ could promote the recovery of neurologic function in I/R rats, which may be related to the up-regulation of BDNF.

Key words: cerebral ischemia-reperfusion, early exercise, γ-aminobutyric acid receptor antagonists, rats