LAUSR

PurposeParkinson’s disease (PD) is one of the most common neurodegenerative disorders. This study compared the effects of two types of exercises on motor dysfunction in characterizing adult male Wistar rats with unilateral 6-hydroxydopamine lesions placed in the median forebrain bundle.MethodsSixty adult male Wistar rats were randomly assigned to six groups: the control intact and Parkinson group (no exercise), the forced group (sham, PD), the voluntary group (sham, PD). The effects of 4 weeks of forced treadmill running and voluntary wheel running on motor behavior were investigated in the open field, Rotarod and hanging tests.ResultsThe outcomes showed that although the length moved by the voluntary exercise group was more than that in the forced exercise, the forced exercise resulted in better performance in Rotarod (P = 0.01), whereas voluntary exercise was found to increase rearing behavior (P = 0.01). Both exercise groups were the same in the open field (p > 0.05), grooming frequency (P = 0.12), and hanging test (P = 0.181).ConclusionWe found that wheel running and treadmill running exercise protocols improved the motor impairments in the 6-OHDA-lesioned rat model of Parkinson’s disease; therefore, our result suggests that both exercise methods could be beneficial for PD patients to reduce their motor dysfunction.