Background: This study was to examine the effects of endurance training and omega-3 supplementation in brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) in the male adult rat hippocampus.

Methods: Twenty eight Wistar rats were divided into four equal groups: control, exercise, diet, and exercise with diet Animals in the exercise group received 8 weeks of endurance training and animals in the diet group were treated with 100/mg/kg/day of omega-3 supplementation via oral gavage for 8weeks. The exercise with diet group received a combination of exercise and also supplementation. Hippocampal BDNF protein was assessed using commercial ELISA methods andthe data were analyzed by one-way ANOVA (p<0.05).

Results: The results showed that BDNF level showed no significance increase in the exercise and diet alone groups. , Moreover, the diet and exercise group revealed a significant increase in BDNF level in comparison with the control and the exercise groups but it was not significant compared with the diet group.

Conclusions: The results of the present study suggest that concurrent administration of omega-3 diet and endurance training has an additive effect in the BDNF level in adult male rat hippocampus.