3.1. Study Design
Forty female Lewis rats between 6-7 weeks of age (100-125 g) from Animal Center Laboratory of Kermanshah University of Medical Sciences, Iran). The rats were housed in an environment with controlled temperature (24 ± 2 °C) and humidity (60%) with 12-h light/dark cycles, and free access to food and water ad libitum. Experiments were performed according to the Guide for the Care and Use of Laboratory Animals (Institute for Laboratory Animal Research, National Research Council, Washington, DC, National Academy Press, no. 85-23, revised 1996),and animal experiments were performed according to Animal Ethics Committee of Kermanshah University of Medical Sciences (ethical code: 1398.146) and followed the international rules for animal research. EAE was induced and rats were subsequently randomized to one of four groups (10 rats per group): 1) EAE, 2) EAE + Ex, 3) EAE + Dex, and 4) EAE + Dex + Ex. The EAE group served as the study control group. The EAE + Ex group performed the treadmill exercise described below.The EAE + Dex group was injected daily with 4 mg/kg of Dex administration as described below. The EAE + Dex + Ex group received daily subcutaneous injections with 4 mg/kg of Dex administration in addition to completing the exercise protocol.
3-2 EAE induction and monitoring
EAE was induced, as previously described (9). Briefly, we injected rats with an inoculum containing 50 ug guinea pig spinal cord homogenate emulsified in incomplete Freund’s adjuvant (Sigma Aldrich, St. Louis, Missouri, United States) and 2mg of heat-mycobacterium (Difco H37Ra).EAE induction was performed by injecting 50 ul of the emulsion subcutaneously at the tail base. Signs of disability were monitored daily using EAE disease scores and body weight changes. The severity of EAE was scored as follows: 0 no clinical signs; 1-tail paralysis; 2 hind limb paresis; 3 both hind limbs paralysis: 4- forelimbs paralysis; 5- moribund or deceased (2).
3-3 Exercise Training Protocol
Treadmill exercise has been suggested to be more efficient than voluntary exercise in neuroprotection by changing brain metabolism (17, 18), therefore, this modality of exercise was chosen for this study. Rats were habituated to treadmill running by running on the treadmill for 15 minutes a day for seven consecutive days (belt speed, 5-10 m/min, with no slop). A low level of electric shock (0.3 mA) was used to motivate rats to run continuously.
The exercise training protocol was initiated 2 weeks before EAE induction and continued for 2 weeks after EAE induction. In the two exercise groups (EAE +Ex and EAE + Dex + Ex), the rats ran on the treadmill for 30 min/day, 5 days per week for a total of 4 weeks (12).The intensity began at a speed of 17 m/min and was increased incrementally 1 meter per min for each subsequent week. Rats in the non-exercise groups were placed on the treadmill track with (12).
3-4 Morris water maze tests (MWM)
MWM is an effective test for spatial learning and memory skills (19).The water maze tank was a black circular pool (136 cm diameter × 60 cm height) that was filled with water (22 ± 1 °C) at a depth of 25 cm. The MWM was divided geographically into four quadrants (north, east, south, and west), which were located around the circumference of the tank. A circular platform was situated in the north-west quadrant submerged approximately 1.5 cm below the surface of the water. Each trial was recorded by a video camera linked to the monitoring scheme (EthoVision XT, Tehran, Iran) which was mounted above the pool. A tracking system was utilized to evaluate the time spent and the swimming speed until the rat reached the platform.
Rats were provided time to habituate to the apparatus for two days. The experiment consisted of consecutive four days of learning and one prop day by hidden platform detecting day. Starting points were varied in a quasi-random fashion so that in each trial the subject started from each location once and never started from the same place on any day. Each rat was positioned in the water facing the wall of the pool at one of the four-set and allowed to swim to find invisible platform unobserved probe in the pool. During each experiment, every rat was given up to 60 seconds (s) to find the hidden platform.
Rats were generally guided to the platform by the investigator, If the rat reaches the hidden platform it is allowed to stay in place for 30 s. If the rat was unable to find the platform circular within 60s, it put on it for the 30s during the first four days. On day 5, MWT was done in which the platform was out of the rat’s reach. We repeated the MWT with a single trial without the platform on day 40 dpi.
3-5 Dexamethasone Administration
Dex (Soldesam, Laboratorio Farmacologico Milanese, Milano, Italy) was dissolved in saline and a dose of 4 mg/kg was administered subcutaneously to rats randomized to receive Dex as previously described (20). All other animals were treated with the equivalent volumes of normal saline. Daily Dex treatment continued until 15 days post-EAE inoculation.
3-6 Euthanasia and Blood Collection
After the prop test on day 40 post-immunization, rats were anesthetized with ketamine/xylazine (3/1). Blood samples were collected via cardiac puncture and samples were allowed to clot for 15 min then centrifuged at 3,000 rpm for 10 min. Serum was aliquoted and stored at −80°c until use. Serum corticosterone was measured using a commercially available enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay corticosterone kit (GmbH, Germany) following the instructions of the kit manufacturer.
3-7 Statistical analysis
IBM SPSS 22.0 was used for all statistical analyses. The data are expressed as the mean ± standard error of the mean. Data were analyzed using a one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) with repeated measures followed by a protected LSD post hoc test. Significance was established at p> 0.05.