Dietary Docosahexaenoic Acid Increases Cerebral Acetylcholine Levels and Improves Passive Avoidance Performance in Stroke-Prone Spontaneously Hypertensive Rats

Minami, Masaru; Kimura, Shin-ichi; Endô, Tôru; Hamaue, Naoya; Hirafuji, Masahiko; Togashi, Hiroko; Matsumoto, Machiko; Yoshioka, Mitsuhiro; Saito, Hideya; Watanabe, Shiro; Kobayashi, Tetsuyuki; Okuyama, Harumi

doi:10.1016/s0091-3057(97)00300-6

Cited by 130 publications

(82 citation statements)

References 45 publications

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“…Our results demonstrate that supplementing mothers with DHA-LPC produce higher plasma choline concentrations in the mothers, and higher acetylcholine concentrations in the cerebellum and hippocampus of the pups, in addition to the better accretion of DHA obtained in the same brain segments when compared to DHA-MG. Favreliere et al (2003) obtained similar results with pups when they assayed the supplementation of mothers with phospholipids obtained from DHArich eggs. It has been described that DHA per se increases brain acetylcholine (Minami et al, 1997). However, in our protocol the increase in acetylcholine observed after DHA-LPC supplementation appears to be a specific effect of choline provided by the supplement.…”

Section: Discussioncontrasting

confidence: 49%

Supplementing female rats with DHA-lysophosphatidylcholine increases docosahexaenoic acid and acetylcholine contents in the brain and improves the memory and learning capabilities of the pups.

Valenzuela¹,

Nieto²,

Sanhueza³

et al. 2009

Grasas y Aceites

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DHA has been established. We propose that DHAcontaining lysophosphatidylcholine (DHA-LPC), obtained from DHA-rich eggs may be a suitable form of DHA and choline (the precursor of acetylcholine) supplementation. We evaluated the effectiveness of DHA-LPC to increase DHA and acetylcholine concentration in the brain of pups born from female rats supplemented with DHA-LPC before and during pregnancy. We also evaluated the effect of DHA supplementation on learning and memory capabilities of pups through the Skinner test for operant conditioning. Female Wistar rats received 40-day supplementation of DHA-LPC (8 mg DHA/kg b.w/daily.), before and during pregnancy. After delivery, plasma, erythrocyte, liver, and adipose tissue DHA and plasma choline were analyzed. Brains from 60 day-old pups separated into frontal cortex, cerebellum, striatum, hippocampus, and occipital cortex, were assessed for DHA, acetylcholine, and acetylcholine transferase (CAT) activity. Pups were subjected to the Skinner box test. DHA-LPC supplementation produces higher choline and liver DHA contents in the mother's plasma and increases the pups' DHA and acetylcholine in the cerebellum and hippocampus. CAT was not modified by supplementation. The Skinner test shows that pups born from DHA-LPC supplemented mothers exhibit better scores of learning and memory than the controls. Conclusion: DHA-LPC may be an adequate form for DHA supplementation during the perinatal period. KEY-WORDS: Brain acetylcholine -Choline -DHA supplementation -Lysophospholipids -Skinner box test.

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Section: Discussioncontrasting

confidence: 49%

Supplementing female rats with DHA-lysophosphatidylcholine increases docosahexaenoic acid and acetylcholine contents in the brain and improves the memory and learning capabilities of the pups.

Valenzuela¹,

Nieto²,

Sanhueza³

et al. 2009

Grasas y Aceites

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“…9-month-old mice consuming a diet supplemented with 20% DHA in the form of Chlorella vulgaris for 8 weeks made fewer total and fewer working memory errors in the 8-arm radial arm maze [40]. In stroke-prone spontaneously hypertensive rats, dietary DHA administration from 6 to 20 months was able to normalize hippocampal ACh levels and improve performance on passive avoidance learning [41]. Similarly, in a footshockmotivated T-maze, 10-month-old senescence-accelerated SAMP8 mice fed a high DHA diet (14% DHA) for 8 weeks exhibited improved acquisition and retention of the learning task when compared with animals maintained on a low DHA (0.3%) diet [42].…”

Section: Dietary Fatty Acids and Age-related Cognitive Declinementioning

confidence: 92%

Dietary polyunsaturated fatty acids improve cholinergic transmission in the aged brain

2009

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The cholinergic theory of aging states that dysfunction of cholinergic neurons arising from the basal forebrain and terminating in the cortex and hippocampus may be involved in the cognitive decline that occurs during aging and Alzheimer's disease. Despite years of research, pharmacological interventions to treat or forestall the development of Alzheimer's disease have primarily focused on enhancing cholinergic transmission, either through increasing acetylcholine (ACh) synthesis or inhibition of the acetylcholinesterase enzyme responsible for ACh hydrolysis. However, recent studies have indicated that dietary supplementation can impact the cholinergic system, particularly during aging. The purpose of the present review is to examine the relevant research suggesting that cholinergic functioning may be maintained during aging via consuming a diet containing polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs). The data reviewed herein indicate that, at least in animal studies, inclusion of PUFAs in the diet can improve cholinergic transmission in the brain, possibly leading to improvements in cognitive functioning.

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“…This fact is due to their favorable biophysical properties such as high motility and motional freedom (20)(21)(22)(23). DHAcontaining phospholipid molecular species might affect the blood-brain barrier (24), neurotransmission (4,22,25), or ionic channels (26,27). However, all of our knowledge on biophysical properties of membranes is based on results obtained on choline phosphoglycerides.…”

Section: Molecular Speciesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Modification by docosahexaenoic acid of age-induced alterations in gene expression and molecular composition of rat brain phospholipids

Barceló‐Coblijn

Hogyes

Kitajka

et al. 2003

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

135

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Advanced age is associated with reduced brain levels of long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids, arachidonic acid (AA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA). Memory impairment is also a common phenomenon in this age. Two-year-old, essential fatty acid-sufficient rats were fed with fish oil (11% DHA) for 1 month, and fatty acid as well as molecular composition of the major phospholipids, phosphatidylcholine and phosphatidylethanolamine (PE), was compared with that of 2-month-old rats on the same diet. DHA but not AA was significantly reduced in brains of old rats but was restored to the level of young rats when they received rat chow fortified with fish oil. This effect was pronounced with diacyl 18:0͞22:6 PE species, whereas levels of 18:1͞22:6 and 16:0͞22:6 remained unchanged in all of the three PE subclasses. Fish oil reduced the AA in the old rat brains, diacyl and alkenylacyl 18:0͞20:4 PE being most affected. Phosphatidylcholines gave less pronounced response. Six genes were up-regulated, whereas no significant changes were observed in brains of old rats receiving fish oil for 1 month. None of them except synuclein in young rat brains could be related to mental functions. Old rats on the fish-oil diet did not perform better in Morris water maze test than the control ones. A 10% increase in levels of diacyl 18:0͞22:6 PE in young rat brains resulted in a significant improvement of learning capacity. The results are interpreted in terms of the roles of different phospholipid molecular species in cognitive functions coupled with differential responsiveness of the genetic machinery of neurons to n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids.B rain is one of the organs rich in phospholipids, which provide the building blocks for different membrane structures. These phospholipids are rather rich in long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids, particularly in docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) and arachidonic acid (AA). DHA content of brain phospholipids seems to be precisely controlled. It is determined during pregnancy and early postnatal life (1, 2). There is a consensus that after this time it is almost impossible to alter brain fatty acid composition of adult, essential fatty acid-sufficient rats. On the other hand, any imbalance in polar head group or fatty-acid composition of structural lipids might have consequences on mental performance. Loss in DHA in brains of persons with Alzheimer's disease is accompanied with loss of memory and learning (3). In aged persons, impairment of memory also often takes place, and this is accompanied with loss of DHA in their brains (4-6). It has been shown that chronic administration of DHA to essential fatty acid-deficient young rats restores DHA levels in brain and improves memory (7). Similarly, DHA administration to ischemic rats had beneficial effect on spatial cognitive deficit (8). Moriguchi et al. (9) showed also that full recovery of brain DHA in essential fatty acid-deficient rats was obtained after 8 weeks on a DHA-containing diet. Hashimoto et al. (10) demonstrated that DHA provided protection fr...

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Dietary Docosahexaenoic Acid Increases Cerebral Acetylcholine Levels and Improves Passive Avoidance Performance in Stroke-Prone Spontaneously Hypertensive Rats

Cited by 130 publications

References 45 publications

Supplementing female rats with DHA-lysophosphatidylcholine increases docosahexaenoic acid and acetylcholine contents in the brain and improves the memory and learning capabilities of the pups.

Supplementing female rats with DHA-lysophosphatidylcholine increases docosahexaenoic acid and acetylcholine contents in the brain and improves the memory and learning capabilities of the pups.

Dietary polyunsaturated fatty acids improve cholinergic transmission in the aged brain

Modification by docosahexaenoic acid of age-induced alterations in gene expression and molecular composition of rat brain phospholipids

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