Behavioral Effect of Short- and Long-Term Exercise on Motor Functional Recovery after Intracerebral Hemorrhage in Rats

Background: In this study, we investigated the effects of short- and long-term exercise on motor functional recovery following intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH) in rats. Methods: Male Wistar rats were randomly divided into 5 experimental groups: ICH without training (ICH group), ICH with long-term exercise for 14 days from the second day after surgery (ICH + LT group), ICH with short-term exercise for 7 days from the second day after surgery (ICH + EST group), ICH with short-term exercise for 7 days from the ninth day after surgery (ICH + LST group), and sham operation without training (SHAM group). ICH was induced by collagenase injection into the left striatum. Forelimb sensorimotor function was evaluated using forelimb placing and horizontal ladder tests. Results: In the behavioral test, the ICH + LT and ICH + EST groups improved significantly compared with the ICH and ICH + LT groups. The ICH + LT and ICH + EST groups recovered motor function in an almost analogous pattern. Conclusions: Our results indicated that, when exercise was started from an early phase after ICH, both short- and long-term exercises had similar benefits on motor functional recovery. However, continuous training using simple treadmill running may have limitations to motor functional recovery.