Cognition, Behavior, and Memory
Author: Sofia Cervellini | Email: soficervellini@gmail.com
Sofia Cervellini 1°, Lila Echavarria 1°, Milagros Sisti 1°, Facundo Peralta 1°, María José Bellini 1°
1° INIBIOLP-CONICET, Facultad de Medicina, Universidad Nacional de La Plata, La Plata, BA, Argentina.
Aging is the accumulation of cellular and molecular damage during life, with the brain suffering some loss-of-function. In addition, a chronic inflammatory state that is attributed to reactive microglia characterizes the aging process.
Omega-3 (w-3) polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) are involved in many cellular functions affecting membrane fluidity and integrity, and they are the main precursors for the biosynthesis of eicosanoids. It has been observed that the intake of w-3 PUFAs has beneficial effects in patients with cardiovascular and age-related diseases. Moreover, administration of w-3 PUFAs after brain injury in mice promoted the formation of immature neurons, micro vessels, and oligodendrocytes. However, their anti-inflammatory and antioxidant effects are controversial.
This study set out to explore the effects of 6-months of dietary supplementation with w-3 PUFAs on cognitive behaviour and inflammatory and oxidative status in aged rats. For this purpose, 18-month-old female Sprague Dawley (SD) rats received fish oil supplementation daily. With the aim of evaluating different behaviours the rats performed cognitive and motor tests.
Our data showed that treatment reduced cognitive deterioration compared with the control group. Interestingly, we observed that the rats receiving w3 supplementation showed similar performance to naïve SD rats of 6 and 12 months.
The results of this study suggest that a daily intake of w-3 PUFAs delays age-related cognitive decline.