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High-intensity physical activity is a non-pharmacological intervention that has been tested as a treatment for Parkinson's disease (PD). The objective of the study was to investigate the benefits of high-intensity physical exercise on the number of neurons and astrocytes in a a rat model of Parkinson's disease submitted to training before and after the inducing injury. Seventy Wistar rats were used, distributed as follows: nine rats trained before PD induction (DP-Exa), nine trained after PD induction (DP-Exd), 10 trained before and after PD induction (DP-Exad), and nine sedentary rats (DP-Sed). There were also the same groups but with the rats exposed to the sham surgery (control). High-intensity physical exercise on a vertical ladder was performed before and/or after PD induction for 5 days/week, 30-45 min a day, for 4 weeks. PD was induced with an electrolytic lesion (AP -4.9, ML 1.7, and DV 8.1). At the end of the experiment, the brain was removed for Nissl staining and immunohistochemistry of glial fibrillary acidid protein (GFAP) in the substantia nigra and striatum. The DP-Exa, Sham-Exa, DP-Exad, and Sham-Exad groups showed a greater number of neurons and higher expression of GFAP in the substantia nigra and stiatum compared with the the DP-Exd, Sham-Exd, DP-Sed, and Sham-Sed groups. Thus, rats that performed high-intensity training before or before and after PD induction had higher densities of neurons and astrocytes.

Parkinson's Disease (PD) affects the cardiorespiratory system, causing an increase in the left ventricular mass in the heart and respiratory muscle weakness in relation to healthy individuals. The objective of this study was to investigate the effects of progressive resistive physical exercise on the vertical ladder on the histomorphometry of cardiac tissue and respiratory muscles in rats with PD. Seventy male Wistar rats, aged 40 days old, were divided into Parkinson's (PD) and Sham (SH) groups; they were also subdivided into groups that performed progressive resistive physical exercise on the vertical ladder Before Surgery (ExBS), After Surgery (ExAS), and Before and After Surgery (ExBAS). The physical training was carried out before and/or after PD induction. Exercise was performed five times a week for 25 min/day for four or eight weeks. PD induction was conducted via electrolytic stimulation of the Substantia nigra of the animals' brains, adopting the following stereotaxic table coordinates: -4.9; lateral medium equal to 1.7, and dorsoventral equal to 8.1. For the morphometric analysis of the heart, the following variables were calculated: relative weight and diameter and thickness of the left ventricle. The diaphragm and the myocardial, intercostal, and abdominal muscles were stained with Hematoxylin and Eosin (HE). The histomorphometric analysis was performed using the ImageJ software to assess the cross-sectional area of muscles and the number of muscle fibers. Progressive resistance exercise promoted the hypertrophy of respiratory muscles and the left ventricle in animals with PD.