Early Supplementation of Phospholipids and Gangliosides Affects Brain and Cognitive Development in Neonatal Piglets

Abstract

As human breast milk is a rich source of phospholipids (PHOS) and gangliosides (GLS), and breastfed infants have improved learning compared to formula fed, the importance of dietary PHOS and GLS for brain development is of interest. Herein, we sought to determine the effects of these lipids on brain and cognitive development. Male and female piglets were artificially reared and fed formula containing 0% (control), 0.8%, or 2.5% LACPRODAN® (PL‐20, Arla Foods Ingredients, DK), a PHOS/GLS supplement, from postnatal day (PD) 2 to PD28. Beginning PD14, performance in a spatial T‐maze task was assessed. At PD28, brain MRI data were acquired and piglet hippocampal tissue was obtained for metabolic profiling. Diet affected maze performance with piglets receiving 0.8% and 2.5% PL‐20 making fewer errors than 0% (80% vs 75% correct on average) (P<0.05) and taking less time to make a choice (3 seconds vs 5 seconds per trial) (P<0.01). Mean brain weight was 5% higher for piglets receiving 0.8% and 2.5% PL‐20 (P<0.05) compared to 0%; and voxel‐based morphometry revealed multiple brain areas with greater volumes and more gray and white matter in piglets receiving 0.8% and 2.5% PL‐20 compared to 0%. Metabolic profiling of hippocampal tissue revealed that multiple phosphatidylcholine metabolites were altered by diet. In summary, dietary PHOS and GLS improved spatial learning and affected brain growth and composition. (Supported by Arla Foods Ingredients and R01 HD069899).