Objective: Depression is one of the most common psychiatric illnesses that cause disability and public health problems. Physical exercise has been shown to reduce the stress impairment and ameliorate depressive symptoms. The objectives of the present study were to confirm, whether swimming exercise alleviates the depression-like behavior induced by chronic unpredictable mild stress (CUMS) through the alteration in the expression of sirtuin 3 (sirt 3) in brain.Methods: This study was undertaken to evaluate the possible antidepressant activity of exercise. Female Wistar rats weighing about 120–150 g were divided into four groups of six animals in each: Control, CUMS-induced, venlafaxine-treated, and exercise-treated groups. The rat model of depression was established using CUMS protocol. Behavioral assessment was performed by sucrose consumption test and forced swim test. Semi-quantitative reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction and Western blot analysis were performed to study the gene expression and the protein activity of SIRT3.Results: Our results showed that the gene expression and protein activity of sirt3 were found to be significantly increased in the exercise-treated group when compared to the depressed group.Conclusion: The interesting fact from this study is that swimming exercise increases sirt3 expression and possesses a beneficial effect in curing depression.

No abstract