Antioxidant Effect of Swimming Training and Royal Jelly Consumption in the Hippocampus Tissue of Rats With Alzheimer’s Disease

Background: As an age-related disease, Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is characterized by memory loss and cognitive impairment. Although oxidative stress factors increase in AD, exercise and nutrition can have protective and antioxidant effects. This study aimed to explore the antioxidant effects of swimming training (ST) and royal jelly (RJ) consumption in the hippocampus tissue of rats with AD. Methods: In this experimental study, 20 rats with AD were selected and divided into four groups, including control, ST, RJ, and ST+RJ. In order to probe the effects of AD induction on superoxide dismutase (SOD) and glutathione peroxidase (GPx), five healthy rats were assigned into the healthy control group. For eight weeks, the ST groups performed ST three times per week (5 minutes in the first week to 60 minutes in the last week), and the RJ groups received 100 mg/kg RJ per day. The Shapiro-Wilk, independent samples t test, and two-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) tests were used to analyze the findings (P≤0.05). Results: AD induction had a significant effect on increasing SOD (P=0.04) and decreasing GPx (P=0.001). Also, ST (P=0.001) and RJ (P=0.01) had a significant effect on increasing GPx; ST (P=0.001) and RJ (P=0.001) had a significant effect on decreasing SOD. Furthermore, ST with RJ had an interactive effect on increasing GPx (P=0.03) and decreasing SOD (P=0.001). Conclusion: In general, ST and RJ appear to simultaneously improve the gene expression of antioxidants in the hippocampus tissue of AD rats. In addition, the antioxidant effects of ST were more favorable than those of RJ. It appears that different doses of RJ should also be considered.