Abstract
Stroke is one of the leading causes of death worldwide and while there is increasing evidence that a Mediterranean diet might decrease the risk of a stroke, the effects of dietary fat composition on stroke outcomes have not been fully explored. We hypothesize that the brain damage provoked by a stroke would be different depending on the source of dietary fat. To test this, male C57BL/6J mice were fed for 4 weeks with a standard low-fat diet (LFD), a high-fat diet (HFD) rich in saturated fatty acids (HFD-SFA), an HFD containing monounsaturated fatty acids (MUFAs) from olive oil (HFD-OO), or an HFD containing MUFAs from olive oil plus polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) docosahexaenoic acid/eicosapentaenoic acid (DHA/EPA) (HFD-OO-ω3). These mice were then subjected to transient middle cerebral artery occlusion (tMCAo). Behavioural tests and histological analyses were performed 24 and/or 48 h after tMCAo in order to elucidate the impact of these diets with different fatty acid profiles on the ischemic lesion and on neurological functions. Mice fed with HFD-OO-ω3 displayed better histological outcomes after cerebral ischemia than mice that received an HFD-SFA or LFD. Furthermore, PUFA- and MUFA-enriched diets improved the motor function and neurological performance of ischemic mice relative to those fed with an LFD or HFD-SFA. These findings support the use of DHA/EPA-omega-3-fatty acid supplementation and olive oil as dietary source of MUFAs in order to reduce the damage and protect the brain when a stroke occurs.
Highlights
Stroke is one of the leading causes of death worldwide [1] and is a major cause of disability in adults [2]
Animals fed with HFDOOimprovement did not showinany in anycompared of these parameters compared to the rest of theindicate groups. Any anyimprovement of these parameters to the rest of the groups. These results indicate that high-fat diet (HFD) enriched anddiets, olive can oil, diminish and low-fat can diminish that enriched in docosahexaenoic acid/eicosapentaenoic acid (DHA/eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA))
We showed that a 4-week administration of a high-fat diet enriched in docosahexaenoic acid (DHA)/EPA and olive oil (HFD-OO-ω3) significantly reduces the infarct area and infarct severity in mice subjected to focal cerebral ischemia
Summary
Stroke is one of the leading causes of death worldwide [1] and is a major cause of disability in adults [2]. The sequence of events responding to ischemia is known as the ischemic cascade, which includes glutamate release, calcium influx, oxidative stress, inflammation, and apoptosis, the irreversible loss of cell viability and neuronal death [4,5]. Comorbid conditions, the accumulation of risk factors for stroke, and a western diet, can all exacerbate the subsequent ischemic damage [6,7]. High-fat diets (HFDs) are known to induce metabolic changes and obesity, and can promote chronic inflammation [8]. Diet-induced obesity and the associated metabolic disturbances (e.g., hyperlipidemia) have been proposed as risk factors for cardiovascular diseases and stroke [9]
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