Hippocampal neurogenesis and Arc expression are enhanced in high-fat fed prepubertal female pigs by a diet including omega-3 fatty acids and Bifidobacterium breve CECT8242

Abstract

Purpose Obesity during childhood has become a pandemic disease, mainly caused by a diet rich in sugars and fatty acids. Among other negative effects, these diets can induce cognitive impairment and reduce neuroplasticity. It is well known that omega-3 and probiotics have a beneficial impact on health and cognition, and we have hypothesized that a diet enriched with Bifidobacterium breve and omega-3 could potentiate neuroplasticity in prepubertal pigs on a high-fat diet. Methods Young female piglets were fed during 10 weeks with: standard diet (T1), high-fat (HF) diet (T2), HF diet including B. breve CECT8242 (T3) and HF diet including the probiotic and omega-3 fatty acids (T4). Using hippocampal sections, we analyzed by immunocytochemistry the levels of doublecortin (DCX) to study neurogenesis, and activity-regulated cytoskeleton-associated protein (Arc) as a synaptic plasticity related protein. Results No effect of T2 or T3 was observed, whereas T4 increased both DCX+ cells and Arc expression. Therefore, a diet enriched with supplements of B. breve and omega-3 increases neurogenesis and synaptic plasticity in prepubertal females on a HF diet from nine weeks of age to sexual maturity. Furthermore, the analysis of serum cholesterol and HDL indicate that neurogenesis was related to lipidic demand in piglets fed with control or HF diets, but the neurogenic effect induced by the T4 diet was exerted by mechanisms independent of this lipidic demand. Conclusion Our results show that the T4 dietary treatment is effective in potentiating neural plasticity in the dorsal hippocampus of prepubertal females on a HF diet.

High-Fat Diet-Induced Obesity Increases Brain Mitochondrial Complex I and Lipoxidation-Derived Protein Damage

“…Same-sex littermates, from the same father and mother, were randomly distributed into 4 experimental groups using a matched-pairs experimental design. After weaning, piglets were transferred to the IRTA pig experimental station and subjected to the same management procedures as described [23,26]. Briefly, at 9 weeks of age, animals were located in environmentally monitored facilities, randomly distributed into 4 pens (10-11 animals per pen from different litters), and fed ad libitum for 10 weeks with 4 different dietary treatments, giving rise to four different experimental groups (see below).…”

“…The results reveal a specific profile of molecular modification in high-fat diets in female piglets, with a dominance of lipid peroxidative damage (34% increase in malondialdehyde-lysine (MDAL)), without changes in the FA profiles, and with specific changes in respiratory mitochondrial complex I (subunits NDUFS3 and NDUFA9) and complex II (flavoprotein, FP). To gain information on the dynamic behavior of the system, we compared these effects with those of a high-fat diet enriched with a probiotic and the same probiotic with n3 PUFA, with properties against high-fat metabolic disorders [23][24][25]. The results demonstrate that the degree of protein lipoxidation depends not only on calories but also on the dietary components, demonstrating the protecting role of n3 PUFA.…”