Authors: Felipe Barreto Schuch Mirela Paiva VasconcelosMoreno Carolina Borowsky Ana Beatriz Zimmermann Bianca WollenhauptAguiar Pamela Ferrari Marcelo Pio de Almeida Fleck
Publish Date: 2014/02/01
Volume: 264, Issue: 7, Pages: 605-613
Abstract
Exercise can be an effective treatment for depression Although the efficacy of exercise is well established little is known concerning the biological changes associated with the antidepressant effects of exercise A randomized controlled trial was conducted to evaluate the effects of adding exercise to the usual treatment on the thiobarbituric acidreactive substances TBARS and brainderived neurotrophic factor BDNF serum levels of severely depressed inpatients Twentysix participants were randomized to an exercise group n = 15 exercise + treatment as usual or a control group n = 11 treatment as usual The participants in the exercise group completed a targeted dose of 165 kcal/kg/week of aerobic exercise three times per week throughout their hospitalizations The control group did not exercise during their hospitalizations The mean hospitalization length was of 2163 45 × 2382 57 days for exercise and control groups respectively The exercise group performed a median of nine sessions After adjusting for previous tobacco use a significant group × time interaction was found for TBARS serum levels p = 002 A post hoc Bonferroni test revealed differences between the exercise and control groups at discharge A significant time effect p 0001 but no group × time interaction was found p = 013 for BDNF serum levels Adding exercise to the usual treatment of severely depressed inpatients decreases the TBARS serum levels of severely depressed inpatients after 3 weeks Adding exercise had no additional effects on BDNF serum levelsWe thank Dr Flavio Kapczinski and the Molecular Psychiatry Laboratory of the Hospital de Clínicas de Porto Alegre for his molecular analyses We also thank the psychiatric inpatient unit of the Hospital de Clínicas de Porto Alegre We are grateful to the Grupo de Pesquisa e PósGraduação GPPG of the Hospital de Clínicas de Porto Alegre for the statistical analyses and funding of this study This study was funded by grants from Fundo de Incentivo a Pesquisa e Eventos do Hospital de Clinicas de Porto Alegre FIPEHCPA and Coordenação de aperfeiçoamento de pessoal de Nível Superior CAPES
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