Abstract
Concussions and mild traumatic brain injury (m-TBI) have been identified as a consequential public health concern because of their potential to cause considerable impairments in physical, cognitive, behavioral, and social functions. Given their prominent structural and functional roles in the brain, n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) have been identified as a potentially viable prophylactic agent that may ameliorate the deleterious effects of m-TBI on brain function. The purpose of the present pilot study was to investigate the effect of n-3 PUFA on neurologic function using a weight drop injury (WDI) model. Fat-1 mice, capable of synthesizing n-3 PUFA endogenously from n-6 PUFA, and their wild-type (WT) counterparts, were subjected to a mild low-impact WDI on the closed cranium, and recovery was evaluated using the neurological severity score (NSS) to assess the motor and neurobehavioral outcomes. In comparison to the WT mice, the fat-1 mice had a significantly (p ≤ 0.05) lower NSS at all time points post-WDI, and significantly greater neurological restoration measured as the time to first movement. Overall, these findings demonstrate the protective effect of n-3 PUFA against mild brain injury.
Highlights
Concussions have been identified as a consequential public health concern because of their potential to cause considerable impairments in physical, cognitive, behavioral, and social functions [1]
Performances on the neurological severity score (NSS) tasks have been found to be consistent with recovery, as determined by the functional and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) measures [11,12]
This study demonstrates that higher brain DHA was associated with the mitigation and rapid recovery of motor and behavioral deficits due to a weight drop injury (WDI) in the fat-1 mouse model
Summary
Concussions have been identified as a consequential public health concern because of their potential to cause considerable impairments in physical, cognitive, behavioral, and social functions [1]. Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is induced by acceleration/deceleration forces, blunt and/or penetrating trauma that interrupt normal brain function [1,2]. In the United States (USA), upwards of 3.5 million TBIs are reported annually, accounting for approximately 52,000 deaths, and greater than 300,000 hospitalizations [3]. It is estimated that concussions constitute approximately 80 to 95% of all cases of TBI that receive medical attention, and account for 44% of the 60 billion USD annual healthcare costs of TBI in the USA [2,3]. It is evident that concussions are a health epidemic that impose a substantial economic burden
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