Fig. 5
Behavioral parameters and hippocampal nNOS, Akt, and CREB protein expression and phosphorylation levels after 7 weeks of HFD consumption combined with 1 week of exercise training. Open (a) and total arm entries (b), percentage of open/total arm entries (c), and defecation (d). The HFD + Ex group showed a lower percentage of open/total arm entries compared with the SD group. Representative immunoblots are shown in e, and quantified data are presented as nNOS (f), pnNOSSer1412/GAPDH (g), pnNOSSer1412/nNOS (h), nNOS gene expression levels (i), pAktSer473 (j), Akt (k), pCREBSer133 (l), and CREB (m). nNOS expression levels and pnNOSSer1412 levels relative to GAPDH were significantly increased in the HFD group. Exercise normalized pnNOSSer1412 levels, but not nNOS protein expression. Open bars, SD group; light gray bars, HFD group; dark gray bars, HFD + Ex group. **P < 0.01, *P < 0.05 vs SD group. All data are presented as mean ± SE. Dot plot represents individual data points. n = 4–7 per group