Abstract
BackgroundPolyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) play important roles in brain fatty acid composition and behavior through their effects on neuronal properties and gene expression. The hippocampus plays an important role in the formation of memory, especially spatial memory and navigation. This study was conducted to examine the effects of PUFA and specifically different dietary n-6: n-3 fatty acid ratios (FAR) on the number and size of hippocampal neurons and the expression of synaptophysin protein in the hippocampus of rats.MethodsForty 3-week old male Sprague–Dawley rats were allotted into 4 groups. The animals received experimental diets with different n-6: n-3 FAR of either 65:1, 26.5:1, 22:1 or 4.5:1 for 14 weeks.ResultsThe results showed that a lowering dietary n-6: n-3 FAR supplementation can increase the number and size of neurons. Moreover, lowering the dietary n-6: n-3 FAR led to an increase in the expression of the pre-synaptic protein synaptophysin in the CA1 hippocampal subregion of the rat brain.ConclusionsThese findings support the notion that decreasing the dietary n-6: n-3 FAR will lead to an intensified hippocampal synaptophysin expression and increased neuron size and proliferation in the rat brain.
Highlights
Polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) play important roles in brain fatty acid composition and behavior through their effects on neuronal properties and gene expression
The trend of the DHA concentration in the brain followed the order of high menhaden oil (HMO) > medium menhaden oil (MMO) > low menhaden oil (LMO) > CTRL (Table 1)
While in response to the 26-fold increase of n-3 PUFA diet, content of brain n-3 PUFA in HMO rats increased by 32.60% (P < 0.05)
Summary
Polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) play important roles in brain fatty acid composition and behavior through their effects on neuronal properties and gene expression. This study was conducted to examine the effects of PUFA and different dietary n-6: n-3 fatty acid ratios (FAR) on the number and size of hippocampal neurons and the expression of synaptophysin protein in the hippocampus of rats. The hippocampus is one of the main regions of the brain which monitors learning and memory processing [1]. It is responsible for spatial memory and plays important roles in cognition. Spatial memory is important to animals as it enables them to locate foods, mates and defends
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