Effect of High Intensity Interval Training on Mechanisms of Neuroplasticity in Parkinson's Disease Patients

Summary

There are experimental evidences of the important role of high intensity physical exercise in Parkinson's disease (PD) treatment, that induces similar effects to pharmacotherapy. So far, the mechanisms of the impact of these changes on the brain subcortical and cortical regions functioning, motor activities and cognitive functions are still not clear.

The aim of this longitudinal (prospective) human experiment is to examine the effects of two cycles of 12-weeks high-intensity interval training (HIIT) on: (i) the level of dopamine (DA) in putamen in striatum, (ii) neurophysiological function of subcortical and cortical motor structures and skeletal muscle activity, (iii) psychomotor behaviors critically associated with dopamine dependent neural structures functioning and (iv) neurotrophic factors' secretion level in blood.

The investigators will recruit 40 PD individuals, who will be divided into two groups: one of them will perform two 12-weeks cycles of HIIT (PD-TR), and the other will not be trained (PD-NTR) with HIIT. The investigators will also recruit 20 age-matched healthy controls (H-CO) as additional control group who will not perform the HIIT. The PD-TR group will perform the two 12-weeks cycles of the HIIT, that induces beneficial, neuroplastic changes and alleviates the PD symptoms, what was found in earlier studies. All PD subjects (PD-TR and PD-NTR) will be examined during their medication "OFF-phase" (it means after dopaminergic drugs withdrawal) before (Pre) and after (Post) training cycles (first training cycle - HIIT 1; second training cycle - HIIT 2), and namely: Pre HIIT 1, 1 week-, 1.5 month- and 3 months-Post HIIT 1; and then similarly 1 week-, 1.5 month- and 3 months-Post HIIT 2. The subject from H-CO will be tested only once.

To examine the assumed HIIT-induced changes in brain functioning the investigators will apply: (i) the positron emission tomography (PET), (ii) the functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), (iii) electroencephalography (EEG) and (iv) an analysis of neurotrophic factors secretion level in blood. The investigators will also assess motor and non-motor symptoms of PD and psychomotor behaviors based on neuropsychological tests of cognitive functions and manual dexterity.

The results of this project will help to answer the fundamental questions about HIIT induced mechanisms of neuroplasticity in PD patients, what is important from scientific and treatment-strategy point of view.

Conditions

• Parkinson's Disease
• Physical Activity
• Neurorehabilitation
• Neuroplasticity

Interventions

BEHAVIORAL

high-intensity interval training (HIIT)

Two 12-week HIIT cycles will be divided with 3 months of break. Each HIIT cycle will consist of three 1-hour training sessions weekly. Each 1-hour training session will consist of 10-minutes warm-up (at slow voluntary speed), 40-minutes of interval exercise and 10-minutes cool-down phase. The interval exercise part will consist of 10 sets of 4 minutes interval including 2-minutes cycling at ≥ 60 \[rpm\], but preferably at 80-90 \[rpm\] (fast phase of interval) and 2-minutes cycling at ≤ 60 \[rpm\] (slow phase of interval). The training will be performed on a stationary cycle ergometer (MONARK, Ergomedic 874E, Sweden). The heart rate (HR, \[bpm\]) will be measured by Polar system (Polar, Finland). The patients will pedal on the cycloergometer at 60%-80% of their individualized HRmax.

BEHAVIORAL

conventional physical therapy

Conventional physical therapy as prescribed and provided by the National Health Fund of Poland, which includes activities for improving motor control, but without any kind of moderate or high intensity aerobic interval or continuous physical training (example: cycle ergometer, treadmill, or Nordic walking training)

Sponsors & Collaborators

• Józef Piłsudski University of Physical Education

  collaborator OTHER

• Medical University of Warsaw

  collaborator OTHER

• Polish Academy of Sciences

  collaborator OTHER

• Wroclaw Medical University

  collaborator OTHER

• Military Institute od Medicine National Research Institute

  collaborator OTHER

• Wroclaw University of Health and Sport Sciences

  lead OTHER

Principal Investigators

• Jaroslaw Marusiak, PhD · University School of Physical Education in Wroclaw, Wroclaw, Poland

Study Design

Allocation

RANDOMIZED

Purpose

TREATMENT

Masking

SINGLE

Model

PARALLEL

Eligibility

Min Age

45 Years

Max Age

65 Years

Sex

ALL

Healthy Volunteers

Yes

Timeline & Regulatory

Start

2018-02-15

Primary Completion

2020-09-25

Completion

2020-12-18

Countries

• Poland

Study Locations