en Life Science Life Science مقاله پژوهشی Original Research Article <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:16px;"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman;"><strong new="" roman="" style="font-family: " times=""><span style="color:#ffffff;"><span style="background-color:#16a085;">Background and Objective:</span></span>&nbsp;</strong>Lead entry into the body causes considerable damages to the brain in the long term. We aimed to investigate the effects of exercise (treadmill running) and flaxseed oil on lead acetate-induced behavioral deficits in male rats.&nbsp;<br> <strong new="" roman="" style="font-family: " times=""><span style="color:#ffffff;"><span style="background-color:#16a085;">Materials and Methods:</span></span>&nbsp;</strong>60 rats were divided into 6 groups: Control (C), Exercise (Ex), Flaxseed oil (FO), Lead (L), Lead- Exercise (L-Ex), and Lead- Flaxseed oil (L-FO). Groups L, L-Ex, and L-FO obtained 100 mg/kg of lead acetate, and groups FO and L-FO received 4 ml/kg (by gavage) of flaxseed oil for 28 consecutive days and Ex, and L-Ex groups ran on the treadmill. At the end of the session, spatial memory, depression, and anxiety behaviors were examined utilizing Morris water maze, forced swimming test, and elevated plus maze respectively.&nbsp;<br> <strong new="" roman="" style="font-family: " times=""><span style="color:#ffffff;"><span style="background-color:#16a085;">Results:</span></span></strong>&nbsp;Lead acetate impaired learning and memory and led to depression and anxiety in rats. Treadmill running and flaxseed oil, both, improved learning and memory and decreased anxiety, but unlike treadmill running, flaxseed oil could not prevent depression resulted from lead consumption.<br> <strong new="" roman="" style="font-family: " times=""><span style="color:#ffffff;"><span style="background-color:#16a085;">Conclusion:</span></span>&nbsp;</strong>Exercising (treadmill running) and flaxseed oil prevent lead-induced behavioral deficits.</span></span></p> Flaxseed oil, Running, Memory, Anxiety, Depression, Lead acetate 146 153 http://journal.zums.ac.ir/browse.php?a_code=A-10-3433-2&slc_lang=en&sid=1 Fatemeh Noroozi farzaneh.norouzi17@gmail.com 5200319475328460073408 5200319475328460073408 No Dept. of Physiology, Zanjan Branch, Islamic Azad University, Zanjan, Iran Masoumeh Asle-Rousta mrousta58@gmail.com 5200319475328460073409 5200319475328460073409 Yes Dept. of Physiology, Zanjan Branch, Islamic Azad University, Zanjan, Iran Mehdi Rahnema meh_rahnema@yahoo.com 5200319475328460073410 5200319475328460073410 No Dept. of Physiology, Zanjan Branch, Islamic Azad University, Zanjan, Iran