Long term adequate n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acid diet protects from depressive-like behavior but not from working memory disruption and brain cytokine expression in aged mice

Aurélie Moranis, Jean-Christophe Delpech, Véronique De Smedt-Peyrusse, Agnès Aubert, Philippe Guesnet, Monique Lavialle, Corinne Joffre, Sophie Layé
Brain, Behavior, and Immunity. 2012-07-01; 26(5): 721-731
DOI: 10.1016/j.bbi.2011.11.001

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1. Brain Behav Immun. 2012 Jul;26(5):721-31. doi: 10.1016/j.bbi.2011.11.001. Epub
2011 Nov 9.

Long term adequate n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acid diet protects from
depressive-like behavior but not from working memory disruption and brain
cytokine expression in aged mice.

Moranis A(1), Delpech JC, De Smedt-Peyrusse V, Aubert A, Guesnet P, Lavialle M,
Joffre C, Layé S.

Author information:
(1)Nutrition et Neurobiologie Intégrée, INRA 1286, 33077 Bordeaux Cedex, France.

Converging epidemiological studies suggest that dietary essential n-3
polyunsaturated fatty acid (PUFA) are likely to be involved in the pathogenesis
of mood and cognitive disorders linked to aging. The question arises as to
whether the decreased prevalence of these symptoms in the elderly with high n-3
PUFA consumption is also associated with improved central inflammation, i.e.
cytokine activation, in the brain. To answer this, we measured memory performance
and emotional behavior as well as cytokine synthesis and PUFA level in the spleen
and the cortex of adult and aged mice submitted to a diet with an adequate supply
of n-3 PUFA in form of α-linolenic acid (α-LNA) or a n-3 deficient diet. Our
results show that docosahexaenoic acid (DHA), the main n-3 PUFA in the brain, was
higher in the spleen and cortex of n-3 adequate mice relative to n-3 deficient
mice and this difference was maintained throughout life. Interestingly, high
level of brain DHA was associated with a decrease in depressive-like symptoms
throughout aging. On the opposite, spatial memory was maintained in adult but not
in aged n-3 adequate mice relative to n-3 deficient mice. Furthermore, increased
interleukin-6 (IL-6) and decreased IL-10 expression were found in the cortex of
aged mice independently of the diets. All together, our results suggest that n-3
PUFA dietary supply in the form of α-LNA is sufficient to protect from deficits
in emotional behavior but not from memory disruption and brain proinflammatory
cytokine expression linked to age.

Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

DOI: 10.1016/j.bbi.2011.11.001
PMID: 22085587 [Indexed for MEDLINE]

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