Fish oil supplementation alleviates metabolic and anxiodepressive effects of diet-induced obesity and associated changes in brain lipid composition in mice

Geneviève Demers, , Jerome Roy, Arturo Israel Machuca-Parra, Zahra Dashtehei pour, Diane Bairamian, Caroline Daneault, Christine Des Rosiers, Guillaume Ferreira, Thierry Alquier, Stephanie Fulton
Int J Obes. 2020-06-16; :
DOI: 10.1038/s41366-020-0623-6

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Demers G(1)(2), Roy J(1), Machuca-Parra AI(1)(3), Dashtehei Pour Z(1)(2), Bairamian D(1)(2), Daneault C(4), Rosiers CD(2)(4), Ferreira G(5)(6), Alquier T(1)(3)(6), Fulton S(7)(8)(9); Representative of consortium.

Author information:
(1)Centre de Recherche du CHUM and Montreal Diabetes Research Center, Montreal, QC, H2X 0A9, Canada.
(2)Departments of Nutrition, Université de Montréal, MontrealQC, QC, H2X 0A9, Canada.
(3)Departments of Medicine, Université de Montréal, Montréal, QC, Canada.
(4)Montreal Heart Institute, Montréal, QC, Canada.
(5)Nutrition and Integrative Neurobiology Unit, UMR1296 INRA – Université de Bordeaux, Bordeaux, France.
(6)Food4BrainHealth France-Canada International Research Network, Bordeaux, France.
(7)Centre de Recherche du CHUM and Montreal Diabetes Research Center, Montreal, QC, H2X 0A9, Canada. .
(8)Departments of Nutrition, Université de Montréal, MontrealQC, QC, H2X 0A9, Canada. .
(9)Food4BrainHealth France-Canada International Research Network, Bordeaux, France.

OBJECTIVE: Obesity significantly elevates the odds of developing mood disorders. Chronic consumption of a saturated high-fat diet (HFD) elicits anxiodepressive behavior in a manner linked to metabolic dysfunction and neuroinflammation in mice. Dietary omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (n-3 PUFA) can improve both metabolic and mood impairments by relieving inflammation. Despite these findings, the effects of n-3 PUFA supplementation on energy homeostasis, anxiodepressive behavior, brain lipid composition, and gliosis in the diet-induced obese state are unclear.

METHODS: Male C57Bl/6J mice were fed a saturated high-fat diet (HFD) or chow for 20 weeks. During the last 5 weeks mice received daily gavage (« supplementation ») of fish oil (FO) enriched with equal amounts of docosahexaenoic (DHA) and eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) or control corn oil. Food intake and body weight were measured throughout while additional metabolic parameters and anxiety- and despair-like behavior (elevated-plus maze, light-dark box, and forced swim tasks) were evaluated during the final week of supplementation. Forebrain lipid composition and markers of microglia activation and astrogliosis were assessed by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry and real-time PCR, respectively.

RESULTS: Five weeks of FO supplementation corrected glucose intolerance and attenuated hyperphagia in HFD-induced obese mice without affecting adipose mass. FO supplementation also defended against the anxiogenic and depressive-like effects of HFD. Brain lipids, particularly anti-inflammatory PUFA, were diminished by HFD, whereas FO restored levels beyond control values. Gene expression markers of brain reactive gliosis were supressed by FO.

CONCLUSIONS: Supplementing a saturated HFD with FO rich in EPA and DHA corrects glucose intolerance, inhibits food intake, suppresses  anxiodepressive behaviors, enhances anti-inflammatory brain lipids, and dampens indices of brain gliosis in obese mice. Together, these findings support increasing dietary n-3 PUFA for the treatment of metabolic and mood disturbances associated with excess fat intake and obesity.

DOI: 10.1038/s41366-020-0623-6
PMID: 32546855

Auteurs Bordeaux Neurocampus