The Effects of Aerobic Exercise on the Recovery of Walking Ability and Neuroplasticity in People with Multiple Sclerosis: A Systematic Review of Animal and Clinical Studies

Table 3

Outcomes on walking ability and neurotrophins from clinical studies.

Intervention	Pre-to-post changes in walking		Changes in walking ability during follow-up	Pre-to-post changes in
	Walking endurance	Spatio-temporal parameters
versus yoga [37]	↑ 2 minWT	↓ 10 mWT	NT	NT
Calisthenics, hospital- versus home-based [38]	NT	↓ 10 mWT	NT	NT
Combined aerobic and strengthening versus combined stretching, balance, and coordination exercises [39]	↑ Self-paced walking distance on ↑ Walking duration on ↑ Relative walking ability	NT	NT	NT
Leg cycling^† versus wait-list control [40]	NT	↑ Figure-of-8 / walking coordination; m walking coordination score	NT	,
Combined aquatic aerobic and circuit resistance exercises^† versus no intervention [41]	↓ 500 m walking time	↓ 7.62 m (25 feet) walking time	NT	NT
Treadmill versus strength training [42]	↓ Oxygen uptake while walking: improved work	↑ Functional ambulation profile ↓ Root mean square of vertical	NT	NT
Leg : continuous versus combined versus intermittent [43]	↑ 2 min walk (considering all participants together at 6 weeks during 12-week-long intervention); Post hoc analysis on 2 min walk distance revealed that the higher-intensity intermittent exercise group would have shown significantly greater improvements in walking mobility if the study had been powered with a sample size of 123	↓ (secs) from 0 to 6; weeks; (secs) from 6 to 12 weeks during 12-week-long intervention	changes in 2 min walk distance between post and 3-month follow-up; ↑ (secs) between post and 3-month follow-up	NT
Leg versus neurologic rehabilitation [44]	↑ 6 minWT of walking (mL O2/kg/m)	↑ Walking speed	NT	NT
Rowing, arm or leg versus wait-list group [45]	all intervention groups together, there is no association between 6 min walk test and BDNF change scores [45]; ↑ 6 min WT reported in the pilot randomized trial [54]	NT	NT	association between the change scores of BDNF and 6 min walk test [45]; change in resting serum BDNF levels after 22 training sessions [45]
Robot-assisted treadmill versus over-ground walking [46]	minWT (m/s)	mWT (m/s)	change between baseline and post, 2nd-, and 9th-month follow-up on movement counts and mins of physical activity over 3 METs on an accelerometer	NT
Robot-assisted treadmill versus conventional walking treatment [47]	minWT distance	mWT (m/s); ↓ TUG	Change between baseline and 3rd- and 6th-month follow-up in TUG change from baseline on 6 minWT and 10 mWT	NT
Robot-assisted treadmill versus conventional walking therapy [48]	↑ 6 minWT	mWT (m/s); (secs)	change between baseline and 3-month follow-up in 6 minWT, 10 mWT, and TUG scores	NT

-type intervention in the experimental group; from the experimental group; at ; not significant; NT: not tested; m: meter; min: minute; secs: seconds; m/s: meters per second; ft: feet; BWS: body weight support; WT: walk test; TUG: timed up and go; MFU: month follow-up; RAGT: robot-assisted gait training; BDNF: brain derived neurotrophic factor; NGF: nerve growth factor; METs: metabolic equivalents.