Abstract: Objective To investigate the effect of voluntary exercise on the proliferation and differentiation of hypothalamus
progenitor cells in adult rats. Methods Male Wistar rats were divided into voluntary exercise (EX) and sedentary (SE) groups,
both of which were further divided into 6 subgroups for observation on days 6, 13, 23, 33, 43 and 53. Bromodeoxyuridine
(BrdU) was intraperitoneally injected daily for 5 consecutive days after commencing voluntary exercise, and at the specified
time points during voluntary exercise, the rats’ brains were removed to observe the numbers of BrdU-positive cells in the
hypothalamus. Results Immunohistochemical analysis showed that the numbers of BrdU-positive cells in the hypothalamus of
EX subgroups were significantly greater than those of SE subgroups on days 23, 33, 43 and 53. In EX group, the number of
BrdU-positive cells double-stained for a mature neuron marker increased after 43 days of voluntary exercise, which did not
occur in SE group. Conclusion Long-term voluntary exercise can promote the proliferation of neuronal progenitor cells in the
hypothalamus and their differentiation into neurons.