The Effect for Eight Weeks of Resistance Training with Royal Jelly Consumption on Anxiety and Depression in A Rat Model for Alzheimer’s Disease

Introduction: Today, due to the prevalence and spread of Alzheimer’s disease (AD) and negative impact on life and health, effective methods have been considered for treating the disease. This study aimed to investigate the effect of eight weeks for resistance training (RT) with royal jelly (RJ) on anxiety and depression in rats with AD. Methods: In the experimental study, 56 male SpragueDawley rats with AD (induced by 8 mg/kg Trimethyltin chloride) divided into seven groups of eight rats including (1) Alzheimer’s control (AD), (2) sham (Sh), (3) RT, (4) RT+ 100 mg/kg RJ (RT+RJ100), (5) RT+ 200 mg/RJ (RT+RJ200), (6) RJ100, and (7) RJ200. Eight rats were assigned into the healthy control (HC) group to investigate the effect of AD induction on research variables. The groups of 3, 4 and 5, performed RT with an intensity of 30 to 100% of body weight three sessions per week for eight weeks, and the  groups of 47 received the selected doses of RJ peritoneally daily. Anxiety-like behaviors and depression were measured by the elevated plusmaze test and forced swim test respectively. To analyze the findings, one-way ANOVA was used with Tukey’s post hoc test, and two-way ANOVA with Bonferroni’s post hoc test (p≤0.05). Results: Eight weeks of RT (p≤0.05) and RJ (p≤0.05) could significantly reduce anxiety and depression in rats with AD. 200 mg/kg RJ had a more favorable effect on reducing anxiety (p≤0.05) and depression (p≤0.05) than 100 mg/kg RJ. In addition, RT and RJ had an interactive effect on reducing depression in rats with AD (p≤0.05). Conclusion: Apparently, the RT and RJ consumption have interactive effects on reducing anxiety; Besides, the antianxiety and antidepression effects of RJ can be dependent on dosage.