The Omega-3 Polyunsaturated Fatty Acid Docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) as a Novel Strategy for Stress-related Psychiatric Disorders: Reversal of Corticosterone-induced Changes in Cortical Neurons

Abstract

Event Abstract Back to Event The Omega-3 Polyunsaturated Fatty Acid Docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) as a Novel Strategy for Stress-related Psychiatric Disorders: Reversal of Corticosterone-induced Changes in Cortical Neurons Matteo Pusceddu1*, Yvonne Nolan2, Holly Green2, Phill Kelly3, Timothy Dinan1 and John F. Cryan4 1 University College Cork (UCC), Psychiatry, Alimentary Pharmabiotyc Centre (APC), Ireland 2 University College Cork, Anatomy & Neuroscience, Ireland 3 Teagasc Food Research Centre, Ireland 4 University College Cork (UCC), Anatomy & Neuroscience, Alimentary Pharmabiotyc Centre (APC), Ireland Growing evidence suggests that omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) may have a beneficial effect on health including mental health. However, the ability of PUFAs to abrogate the stress-induced toxic effects on neurons has not been well investigated. To this end, we studied the protective effect of the omega-3 PUFA docosahexaenoic acid (DHA), against corticosterone (CORT)-induced cellular changes in a mixed cortical primary culture. We first characterized the effect of CORT (75, 100, 150, 200uM) at different time points (24, 48, 72 hours) in a mixed cortical primary culture over 10 days in vitro (DIV), prepared from rats at postnatal day 1-2. Cells were then pretreated with DHA (3, 6uM) at 1DIV. CORT (72 hours) induced a dose-dependent reduction in cellular viability as assessed by MTT. Moreover, we demonstrated that CORT (200uM - 72 hours) decreased the percentage composition of neurons whilst increasing the percentage of astrocytes as assessed by B-III tubulin and GFAP immunostaining, respectively. In contrast, DHA (6uM but not 3uM) attenuated CORT (200uM)-induced cell death (72 hours). This translated into a capacity for DHA to prevent neuronal death as well as astrocytes overgrowth following chronic exposure to CORT. Furthermore, DHA (6uM) reversed CORT-induced neuronal apoptosis as assessed by TUNEL, and attenuated CORT-induced reductions in BDNF and CREB mRNA expression. Finally, DHA inhibited CORT-induced down-regulation of GR expression on b-III tubulin-positive neurons. In conclusion, this work supports the view that DHA may be beneficial to ameliorate stress-related cellular changes in the brain and may be a beneficial strategy for stress-related psychiatric disorders. Research was funded by Food Institutional Research Measure (FIRM) under Grant No. 4600 R14358, the Alimentary Pharmabiotic Centre (APC) under Grant No. 07/CE/B1368 and 12/RC/2273, and Science Foundation Ireland under Grant No. 12/IA/1537. Keywords: Corticosterone, Mixed cortical primary culture, docosahexaenoic acid, immunocytochemistry, Apoptosis, Cell viability, glucocorticoid receptors, BDNF Conference: Neuroscience Ireland Young Neuroscientists Symposium 2014 , Dublin, Ireland, 20 Sep - 20 Sep, 2014. Presentation Type: Poster Presentation Topic: Early Career Neuroscience Citation: Pusceddu M, Nolan Y, Green H, Kelly P, Dinan T and Cryan JF (2014). The Omega-3 Polyunsaturated Fatty Acid Docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) as a Novel Strategy for Stress-related Psychiatric Disorders: Reversal of Corticosterone-induced Changes in Cortical Neurons. Front. Neurosci. Conference Abstract: Neuroscience Ireland Young Neuroscientists Symposium 2014 . doi: 10.3389/conf.fnins.2014.87.00004 Copyright: The abstracts in this collection have not been subject to any Frontiers peer review or checks, and are not endorsed by Frontiers. They are made available through the Frontiers publishing platform as a service to conference organizers and presenters. The copyright in the individual abstracts is owned by the author of each abstract or his/her employer unless otherwise stated. Each abstract, as well as the collection of abstracts, are published under a Creative Commons CC-BY 4.0 (attribution) licence (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) and may thus be reproduced, translated, adapted and be the subject of derivative works provided the authors and Frontiers are attributed. For Frontiers’ terms and conditions please see https://www.frontiersin.org/legal/terms-and-conditions. Received: 04 Sep 2014; Published Online: 05 Sep 2014. * Correspondence: Mr. Matteo Pusceddu, University College Cork (UCC), Psychiatry, Alimentary Pharmabiotyc Centre (APC), Cork, Ireland, m.pusceddu@umail.ucc.ie Login Required This action requires you to be registered with Frontiers and logged in. To register or login click here. Abstract Info Abstract The Authors in Frontiers Matteo Pusceddu Yvonne Nolan Holly Green Phill Kelly Timothy Dinan John F Cryan Google Matteo Pusceddu Yvonne Nolan Holly Green Phill Kelly Timothy Dinan John F Cryan Google Scholar Matteo Pusceddu Yvonne Nolan Holly Green Phill Kelly Timothy Dinan John F Cryan PubMed Matteo Pusceddu Yvonne Nolan Holly Green Phill Kelly Timothy Dinan John F Cryan Related Article in Frontiers Google Scholar PubMed Abstract Close Back to top Javascript is disabled. Please enable Javascript in your browser settings in order to see all the content on this page.