Resistance Training can Build Resilience Against Alzheimer's Disease

Highlights:

Alzheimer's disease is a progressive disease that begins with mild memory loss and possibly leading to loss of the ability to carry on a conversation and respond to the environment
There is currently no cure, but a recent animal study discovered that resistance training can prevent or delay the onset of Alzheimer's disease
The main reason why resistance training could be a safe therapeutic agent is due to its anti-inflammatory effects

As many as 55 million people have dementia globally. Dementia results from a variety of diseases and injuries that affect the brain. Alzheimer's disease is the most common form of dementia and may contribute to 60–70% of cases ().

Working out regularly, like resistance training can prevent or at the minimum delay the symptoms of Alzheimer’s disease. This makes it a simple, accessible, and affordable treatment.

This is in accordance with an article published in Frontiers in Neuroscience by Brazilian researchers affiliated with the Federal University of São Paulo (UNIFESP) and the University of São Paulo (USP) ().

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Focusing on Resistance Training for Alzheimer’s Disease

Although most Alzheimer's patients and older individuals are unlikely to be able to do long daily runs or other high-intensity aerobic workouts, these activities are the subject of most scientific investigations on the disease.

Resistance training is recommended by the World Health Organization (WHO) as the greatest way to train balance, improve posture, and reduce falls.

Resistance exercise involves the contraction of certain muscles against an external resistance and is seen as an important approach for increasing muscular mass, strength, and bone density, as well as improving overall body composition, functional capacity, and balance.

It also aids in the prevention or treatment of sarcopenia (muscle atrophy), making daily tasks easier to complete.

To study the neuroprotective effects of this practice, researchers from UNIFESP's Departments of Physiology and Psychobiology, as well as the Department of Biochemistry at USP's Institute of Chemistry (IQ-USP), used transgenic mice with a mutation that causes beta-amyloid plaque buildup in the brain.

The protein builds up in the brain, inhibits synaptic connections, and destroys neurons, all of which are symptoms of Alzheimer's disease.

During the study, the mice were trained to climb a 110 cm ladder with a slope of 80° and 2 cm between rungs. Loads corresponding to 75%, 90%, and 100% of their body weight were attached to their tails. The experiment mimicked certain kinds of resistance training undertaken by humans in fitness centers.

Blood samples were taken at the end of a four-week training session to test plasma levels of corticosterone, the hormone in mice equal to cortisol in humans; growing levels in reaction to stress increase the chance of developing Alzheimer's.

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Resistance Training Reduces Formation of Amyloid Plaques

Levels of the hormone were normal (equal to those found in the control group comprising animals without the mutation) in the exercise-trained mice, and analysis of their brain tissue showed a decrease in the formation of beta-amyloid plaques.

"This confirms that physical activity can reverse neuropathological alterations that cause clinical symptoms of the disease," said Henrique Correia Campos, first author of the article.

"We also observed the animals' behavior to assess their anxiety in the open field test [which measures avoidance of the central area of a box, the most stress-inducing area] and found that resistance exercise reduced hyperlocomotion to similar levels to the controls among mice with the phenotype associated with Alzheimer's," said Deidiane Elisa Ribeiro, co-first author of the article and a researcher at IQ-USP's Neuroscience Laboratory.

Early indications of Alzheimer's and other types of dementia include agitation, restlessness, and wandering.

"Resistance exercise is increasingly proving an effective strategy to avoid the appearance of symptoms of sporadic Alzheimer's [not directly caused by a single inherited genetic mutation], which is multifactorial and may be associated with aging, or to delay their emergence in familial Alzheimer's. The main possible reason for this effectiveness is the anti-inflammatory action of resistance exercise," said Beatriz Monteiro Longo, the last author of the article and a professor of neurophysiology at UNIFESP.

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The animal model study was based on a review of the literature published in Frontiers in Neuroscience, in which the same group at UNIFESP compiled clinical evidence that resistance exercise benefits cognitive dysfunction, memory deficit, and behavioral issues in Alzheimer's patients, concluding that it can be an affordable alternative or adjuvant therapy ().

The study included researchers from the Federal University of Rio Grande do Norte (UFRN) and the Federal University of Ouro Preto (UFOP) in Brazil.

"Alzheimer's doesn't only affect the patient. The entire family is affected, especially in low-income households," said Caroline Vieira Azevedo, first author of the review article and a graduate student at UNIFESP. "Both articles offer information that can be used to stimulate the creation of public policies. Imagine the cost savings if the appearance of symptoms in older patients is deferred by ten years."

References:

Dementia - (https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/dementia)
Neuroprotective effects of resistance physical exercise on the APP/PS1 mouse model of Alzheimer’s disease - (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10116002/)
The effects of resistance exercise on cognitive function, amyloidogenesis, and neuroinflammation in Alzheimer's disease - (https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/36937673/)

Source-Medindia

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Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is the most common form of dementia. Participate in this quiz to find out how much you know about this debilitating disease.