EN
INTRODUCTION: The broad spectrum of the positive effects of physical activity on brain functioning is well acknowledged. Among others, it induces an improvement in mood, and a part of the rodent studies support this thesis by showing anxiolytic effects of exercise. However, the mechanism of this behavioral modification is not clear. Changes in brain metabolism may contribute to the generation of complex brain disorder phenotypes; thus, metabolomics have proven to be useful tools in studies on the central nervous system. AIM(S): The discrimination of anxiolytic level and metabolomics changes in the brain were evaluated in this study. METHOD(S): Voluntary running mice were subjected to a battery of behavioral tests (Open Field, Elevated Plus Maze, Dark/Light Box) commonly used to measure anxiety levels. Simultaneously, GC/MS analysis of hippocampal and cortical samples was performed for metabolome profiling of the running mice. RESULTS: The exercised animals showed anxiolytic behavior. Voluntary running caused an accumulation of saturated fatty acids, such as myrisitc, palmitic, heptadecanoic, and stearic acids, in the hippocampus and cortex of running mice. CONCLUSIONS: A striking observation in the present study is that a profile of saturated fatty acids that accumulates in the hippocampi and cortex of the running mice is consistent with the mixture of fatty acids that was identified as causing anxiolytic-like effects when administered to rodents.