The Effect of a High-Fat Diet on Brain Plasticity, Inflammation and Cognition in Female ApoE4-Knockin and ApoE-Knockout Mice.

Apolipoprotein E4 (ApoE4), one of three common isoforms of ApoE, is a major risk factor for late-onset Alzheimer disease (AD). ApoE-deficient mice, as well as mice expressing human ApoE4, display impaired learning and memory functions and signs of neurodegeneration. Moreover, ApoE protects against high-fat (HF) diet induced neurodegeneration by its role in the maintenance of the integrity of the blood-brain barrier.

Early intake of long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids preserves brain structure and function in diet-induced obesity.

Worldwide, the incidence of obesity is increasing at an alarming rate, and the number of children with obesity is especially worrisome. These developments raise concerns about the physical, psychosocial and cognitive consequences of obesity. It was shown that early dietary intake of arachidonic acid (ARA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) can reduce the detrimental effects of later obesogenic feeding on lipid metabolism and adipogenesis in an animal model of mild obesity.

Effect of perinatally supplemented flavonoids on brain structure, circulation, cognition, and metabolism in C57BL/6J mice.

Evidence suggests that flavanol consumption can beneficially affect cognition in adults, but little is known about the effect of flavanol intake early in life. The present study aims to assess the effect of dietary flavanol intake during the gestational and postnatal period on brain structure, cerebral blood flow (CBF), cognition, and brain metabolism in C57BL/6J mice. Female wild-type C57BL/6J mice were randomly assigned to either a flavanol supplemented diet or a control diet at gestational day 0.

Impact of dietary n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids on cognition, motor skills and hippocampal neurogenesis in developing C57BL/6J mice.

Maternal intake of omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (n-3 PUFA) is critical during perinatal development of the brain. Docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) is the most abundant n-3 PUFA in the brain and influences neuronal membrane function and neuroprotection. The present study aims to assess the effect of dietary n-3 PUFA availability during the gestational and postnatal period on cognition, brain metabolism and neurohistology in C57BL/6J mice.

Resting-state functional connectivity changes in aging apoE4 and apoE-KO mice.

It is well established that the cholesterol-transporter apolipoprotein ε (APOE) genotype is associated with the risk of developing neurodegenerative diseases. Recently, brain functional connectivity (FC) in apoE-ε4 carriers has been investigated by means of resting-state fMRI, showing a marked differentiation in several functional networks at different ages compared with carriers of other apoE isoforms. The causes of such hampered FC are not understood.

Effects of specific multi-nutrient enriched diets on cerebral metabolism, cognition and neuropathology in AβPPswe-PS1dE9 mice.

Recent studies have focused on the use of multi-nutrient dietary interventions in search of alternatives for the treatment and prevention of Alzheimer's disease (AD). In this study we investigated to which extent long-term consumption of two specific multi-nutrient diets can modulate AD-related etiopathogenic mechanisms and behavior in 11-12-month-old AβPPswe-PS1dE9 mice. Starting from 2 months of age, male AβPP-PS1 mice and wild-type littermates were fed either a control diet, the DHA+EPA+UMP (DEU) diet enriched with uridine monophosphate (UMP) and the omega-3 fatty acids docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) and eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA), or the Fortasyn® Connect (FC) diet enriched with the DEU diet plus phospholipids, choline, folic acid, vitamins and antioxidants.

A longitudinal study of cognition, proton MR spectroscopy and synaptic and neuronal pathology in aging wild-type and AβPPswe-PS1dE9 mice.

Proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy ((1)H MRS) is a valuable tool in Alzheimer's disease research, investigating the functional integrity of the brain. The present longitudinal study set out to characterize the neurochemical profile of the hippocampus, measured by single voxel (1)H MRS at 7 Tesla, in the brains of AβPPSswe-PS1dE9 and wild-type mice at 8 and 12 months of age. Furthermore, we wanted to determine whether alterations in hippocampal metabolite levels coincided with behavioral changes, cognitive decline and neuropathological features, to gain a better understanding of the underlying neurodegenerative processes.

Cholesterol and synaptic compensatory mechanisms in Alzheimer's disease mice brain during aging.

Research into the development of Alzheimer's disease (AD) provides increasing evidence that vascular risk factors, including high serum cholesterol, might influence the progression of cognitive impairment and neural degeneration. In this study, we investigated the effects of high dietary cholesterol intake and the cholesterol-lowering liver X receptor-agonist T0901317 on capillary density, amyloid-β deposition, and presynaptic boutons in the hippocampus of adult (8 months) and aged (15 months) AβPPswe-PS1dE9 and wild-type mice to elucidate how cholesterol may affect neurodegenerative processes in aging and AD. Our results show increased number of presynaptic boutons in 15-month-old AβPP-PS1 mice compared to age-matched wild-type animals, but no difference at 8 months of age.