Background: Alzheimer’s disease (AD) disrupts hippocampal oxidant-antioxidant balance. Although endurance training, saffron, and crocin have shown antioxidant benefits individually, their comparative effects in Alzheimer’s models are not well established. The present study investigated changes in hippocampal oxidant-antioxidant markers in trimethyltin (TMT)-induced Alzheimer’s rats following eight weeks of endurance training (ET), with or without saffron (S) and crocin (Cr) supplementation.
Methods: The current study was performed on 49 male Sprague-Dawley rats (age: 8 weeks old, weight: ~220 g). Forty-two rats received TMT (8 mg/kg, [intraperitoneal] IP) and were randomly assigned to six groups: (1) AD, (2) ET, (3) S, (4) Cr, (5) ET+S, and (6) ET+Cr. Seven healthy rats served as controls (HC). Training groups ran on a treadmill for eight weeks (5 sessions/week, 15-30 min/session, 15-20 m/min). S and Cr groups received daily IP injections (25 mg/kg). Forty-eight hours following the intervention, hippocampal tissue was collected to measure superoxide dismutase (SOD), malondialdehyde (MDA), and total antioxidant capacity (TAC). The data were analyzed using one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) and Tukey’s post hoc test (SPSS software [version 22], P ≤ 0.05).
Results: Compared to the AD group, MDA levels decreased by 35-56%, and SOD levels increased by 193-257% in all the intervention groups. Moreover, TAC levels showed marked improvement, rising by 185%, 220%, 253%, 309%, and 335% in Cr, S, ET, ET+Cr, and ET+S groups, respectively (P < 0.05). The aforementioned findings highlight the superior antioxidant response in the combined intervention groups, compared to the response in single treatments (P < 0.05).
Conclusion: Endurance training, saffron, and crocin improved hippocampal antioxidant status in Alzheimer’s rats, with combined interventions yielding superior effects.
