EXAMINATION OF THE EFFECTS OF INTERMITTENT FASTING DIET AND/OR AEROBIC EXERCISE ON COGNITIVE AND BEHAVIORAL PERFORMANCE VIA ASTROCYTE-DERIVED TGF BETA IN THE RAT BRAIN
Project no. 29556 · Status: Kapanmış (Yayın bekleniyor) · 2023
Summary
<p>Intermittent fasting diet (IF) is a diet that stimulates various metabolic and endocrine pathways with the principle of getting enough nutrients at a certain time of the day and not getting food for the rest of the day. New neuron formation and neuron regeneration have been demonstrated in the central nervous system after IF. Aerobic exercise (AE) supports neurogenesis in both the peripheral and central nervous systems, while reducing inflammation. It is known in the literature that diet and exercise reduce inflammation in the body and support cell regeneration, but information on this subject is limited in hippocampus and motor cortex neurons.</p><p>Purpose: To examine the relationship of IF and/or AE with TGF beta receptor expression in hippocampus and motor cortex, and performance in cognitive and behavioral tests in Wistar albino rats (n: 40). Histochemical and biochemical methods has been applied comparatively in 4 groups as control, AE, IF and IF+AE. While the groups that applied IF had access to unlimited food for 9 hours, the others was fed <em>ad libitum</em>. In the AE group, 40 min/day swimming exercise was applied 5 days a week. The relationship between the new object recognition test and the open field test and behavioral evaluation of TGF beta expression changes in the hippocampus and motor areas were examined.</p><p>The study, which is a master degree thesis project, is valuable in that it will examine for the first time in the literature the effects of IF and/or AE on neuronal regeneration and neuroprotection in the hippocampus and motor cortex in rats, as well as the new object recognition test and open field test and TGF beta expression simultaneously. Not only did it fulfill the knowledge gap in this area, it also combined information about the closely interconnected cortical and subcortical areas. The study has also the potential to contribute to public health as it deals with a diet that may be beneficial for the community.</p><p>Keywords; transforming growth factor; brain; aerobic exercise; intermittent fasting diet; behavioral experiments</p>