Abstract
Epidemiological studies have reported that consumption of dairy products rich in β-lactolin is beneficial for cognitive decline among elderly individuals. Although previous studies have shown that β-lactolin supplementation improves memory function and attention in healthy adults, the mechanism through which β-lactolin affects human brain function has yet to be elucidated. This placebo-controlled randomized double-blind study therefore examined the effects of β-lactolin on human regional cerebral blood flow (rCBF) using near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) according to the Consolidated Standards of Reporting Trials guidelines. A total of 114 healthy participants aged between 50 and 75 years with relatively low cognition were randomly allocated into the β-lactolin or placebo groups (n = 57 for both groups) and received supplementation for 6 weeks. After the 6 weeks of supplementation, total hemoglobin during cognitive tasks (Kraepelin and 2-back tasks) was measured using two-channel NIRS to determine rCBF. Accordingly, the β-lactolin group had significantly higher changes in total hemoglobin at the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) area measured using the left-side channel during the 2-back tasks (p = 0.027) compared to the placebo group. The present study suggests that β-lactolin supplementation increases rCBF and DLPFC activity during working memory tasks.
Highlights
The number of individuals with cognitive decline or dementia has been rapidly increasing globally due to the increasingly aging society, with estimates predicting 130 million patients with dementia by 2050 [1]
The current study investigated the effects of β-lactolin on cerebral blood flow (CBF) during a cognitive task with near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS)
Our results showed that those receiving β-lactolin supplementation for 6 weeks had greater CBF within the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) area during 2-back tasks compared to the placebo group, suggesting that β-lactolin supplementation promotes the activity of DLPFC during a cognitive task and is associated with the improvement of DLPFC-associated cognitive function, including attention, executive function, and memory retrieval
Summary
The number of individuals with cognitive decline or dementia has been rapidly increasing globally due to the increasingly aging society, with estimates predicting 130 million patients with dementia by 2050 [1]. Owing to lack of effective therapeutic approaches for cognitive decline and dementia, including Alzheimer’s disease, preventive approaches in daily life, such as exercise and food, have been gaining more attention. A dairy product fermented using fungi, has been found to prevent the development of Alzheimer’s disease in transgenic model mice [8]. Reports have revealed that Camembert cheese supplementation increased the brain-derived neurotrophic factor in the serum of patients with mild cognitive impairment [9]. Β-Lactolin has been found to improve spatial working memory and episodic object recognition memory in mice and aged mice with pharmacologically induced amnesia [6], as well as improve cognitive decline and suppress Alzheimer’s pathologies, including inflammation and Aβ deposition in the brain of transgenic 5× FAD mice with Alzheimer’s disease [13] Administered β-lactolin is delivered to the brain, where it inhibits monoamine oxidase B (MAO-B) activity in mice, subsequently increasing the levels of dopamine in the cortex and hippocampus [11,12]. β-Lactolin has been found to improve spatial working memory and episodic object recognition memory in mice and aged mice with pharmacologically induced amnesia [6], as well as improve cognitive decline and suppress Alzheimer’s pathologies, including inflammation and Aβ deposition in the brain of transgenic 5× FAD mice with Alzheimer’s disease [13]
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