Background and Objectives: One of the most common patterns of ethanol consumption is binge drinking, which is associated with long-term behavioral disorders. So the interventions causing to improve health conditions in a short-time can be very important. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of curcumin and swimming training after binge ethanol drinking on the mitochondrial biogenesis of the hippocampal tissue in male rats.
Materials and Methods: In an experimental study, Wistar male rats (200-250g) received ethanol/dextrose for four days every eight hours. After six days of avoidance, rats in the ethanol group were randomly divided into four groups: 1) control; 2) swimming training; 3) curcumin; 4) swimming training and curcumin. A dextrose group was also considered as ethanol control in a completely similar period. PGC-1α and TFAM genes expression was measured in the hippocampal tissue.
Results: After 20 days of withdrawal, PGC-1α expression was significantly less than that in the dextrose group. After two weeks, swimming training could but nocurcumin could not significantly increase PGC-1α gene expression comparing to the control group. The combination of curcumin and swimming significantly increased the expression of PGC-1α and TFAM genes in the hippocampus tissue.
Discussion: The results showed that combination of curcumin and swimming training could increase the expression of PGC-1α and TFAM genes, and improved mitochondrial biogenesis in the rats' hippocampus after binge ethanol drinking.