Effects of High-Fat and High-Fat High-Sugar Diets in the Anxiety, Learning and Memory, and in the Hippocampus Neurogenesis and Neuroinflammation of Aged Rats.
Bárbara MotaMiguel RamosSandra I MarquesAna SilvaPedro A PereiraM Dulce MadeiraNuno MateusArmando CardosoPublished in: Nutrients (2023)
High-caloric diets induce several deleterious alterations in the human body, including the brain. However, information on the effects of these diets on the elderly brain is scarce. Therefore, we studied the effects of 2 months of treatment with high-fat (HF) and high-fat-high-sugar (HFHS) diets on aged male Wistar rats at 18 months. Anxiety levels were analyzed using the open-field and plus-maze tests, while learning and memory processes were analyzed using the Morris water maze test. We also analyzed neurogenesis using doublecortin (DCX) and neuroinflammation using glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP). In aged rats, the HFHS diet impaired spatial learning, memory, and working memory and increased anxiety levels, associated with a reduction in the number of DCX cells and an increase in GFAP cells in the hippocampus. In contrast, the effects of the HF diet were lighter, impairing spatial memory and working memory, and associated with a reduction in DCX cells in the hippocampus. Thus, our results suggest that aged rats are highly susceptible to high-caloric diets, even if they only started in the elderly, with an impact on cognition and emotions. Furthermore, diets rich in saturated fats and sugar are more detrimental to aged rats than high-fat diets are.
Keyphrases
- working memory
- weight loss
- cerebral ischemia
- induced apoptosis
- cell cycle arrest
- attention deficit hyperactivity disorder
- transcranial direct current stimulation
- endothelial cells
- cognitive impairment
- physical activity
- white matter
- minimally invasive
- resting state
- prefrontal cortex
- sleep quality
- spinal cord
- signaling pathway
- mild cognitive impairment
- depressive symptoms
- cell death
- computed tomography
- multiple sclerosis
- neuropathic pain
- lps induced
- pi k akt
- amino acid
- inflammatory response
- spinal cord injury
- acute heart failure