The effect of eight weeks of intense interval training combined with bee pollen consumption on the levels of serotonin, dopamine, and PGC-1α proteins in the hippocampus of rats exposed to cadmium

Introduction: Neurotransmitters and PGC1α enhance neurological disorders, regulate mitochondrial function, and oxidative stress in the central nervous system, while toxic cadmium damages nervous system structures. In the present study, the effect of eight weeks of high-intensity interval training combined with pollen consumption on the levels of serotonin, dopamine, and PGC-1α proteins in the hippocampus of rats exposed to cadmium was investigated. Materials & Methods: The study involved 25 Sprague-Dawley rats, randomly divided into groups based on their health status, exposure to cadmium, pollen, high-intensity interval training, and pollen+high-intensity interval training. The rats were fed pollen and cadmium chloride daily. Data analysis was conducted using SPSS V.26, two-way variance test, independent t-test, and Mann-Whitney test at a significance level of 0.05. Results: Cadmium levels in the healthy control group were significantly lower than in the others (P=0.001). Also, a significant decrease in cadmium levels was observed in the exercise+pollen group compared to the cadmiump (P=0.031). However, these changes were insignificant compared to the pollen and exercisep (p < 0.05). The main and interaction effects of high-intensity interval training and pollen were not significant for serotonin, dopamine, and PGC-1α levels (p > 0.05). In the pollen, exercise, and pollen+exercise groups, there was no significant difference compared to the cadmium group for serotonin, dopamine, and PGC-1α levels (p>0.05). Conclusion: High-intensity interval training and eating pollen, either separately or together, did not significantly raise the levels of serotonin, dopamine, and PGC-1α proteins in rats that were exposed to cadmium.