Fig. 5. Treadmill exercise increases synapse numbers of hippocampus in VD rats. A). Representative electron microscope images in each group. B). The number of hippocampal synapse (red arrowhead) in each group. The synapses are marked by the red arrowheads.#P<0.05 and&P<0.05 vs. C group;**P<0.01 vs. VD group.
Treadmill exercise rescued dendritic damage of synapse caused by VD.
To further confirm the neuroprotective effect of treadmill exercise on recognition in VD rats was associated with structural synaptic plasticity, we next analyzed spine density. The results demonstrated that the spine numbers of the hippocampus were significantly decreased in the VD group compared to the control group (P<0.05; Fig. 6B). Meanwhile, compared with VD group, hippocampal spine numbers were significantly increased in Exe-VD group (P<0.05; Fig. 6B). Thus, treadmill exercise blocked a decrease in the spine density of hippocampus in VD rats.