OBJECTIVES: The socio-economic impact from age-related mental decline is escalating. Supplementation of functional foods for sustaining mental health is desirable. We examined the effect of long-term supplementation of complex milk lipid concentrate (CMLc), mixed dairy phospholipids, on memory and associated vascular and neuronal changes in aged rats. METHODS: Fisher/Norway Brown rats were used. Two groups of aged rats (24 months) were fed with either gelatin-formulated CMLc or blank gelatin as the control, for 4 months. To determine age-related changes, a young group (5 months) was also fed with blank gelatin. Morris water maze tests were carried out after the supplementation and brain tissues were collected for biological analysis. RESULTS: The aged control rats learnt to locate the platform slower than the young control rats during acquisition trials (*P < 0.05), and made fewer entries to and more initial heading errors from the platform zone during testing trials (*P < 0.05). The CMLc supplementation improved memory by showing the reduced initial heading errors in a delayed probe trial ((#)P < 0.05). We also found that the aged rats with CMLc supplementation improved vascular density, dopamine output, and neuroplasticity ((#)P < 0.05) in the brain regions involved in memory compared with that of the aged control rats. DISCUSSION: The data suggested that the supplementation of CMLc during the early stage of brain aging may prevent memory decline possibly through improving vascular and neuronal function.
OBJECTIVES: The socio-economic impact from age-related mental decline is escalating. Supplementation of functional foods for sustaining mental health is desirable. We examined the effect of long-term supplementation of complex milk lipid concentrate (CMLc), mixed dairy phospholipids, on memory and associated vascular and neuronal changes in aged rats. METHODS: Fisher/Norway Brown rats were used. Two groups of aged rats (24 months) were fed with either gelatin-formulated CMLc or blank gelatin as the control, for 4 months. To determine age-related changes, a young group (5 months) was also fed with blank gelatin. Morris water maze tests were carried out after the supplementation and brain tissues were collected for biological analysis. RESULTS: The aged control rats learnt to locate the platform slower than the young control rats during acquisition trials (*P < 0.05), and made fewer entries to and more initial heading errors from the platform zone during testing trials (*P < 0.05). The CMLc supplementation improved memory by showing the reduced initial heading errors in a delayed probe trial ((#)P < 0.05). We also found that the aged rats with CMLc supplementation improved vascular density, dopamine output, and neuroplasticity ((#)P < 0.05) in the brain regions involved in memory compared with that of the aged control rats. DISCUSSION: The data suggested that the supplementation of CMLc during the early stage of brain aging may prevent memory decline possibly through improving vascular and neuronal function.
Authors: James F Markworth; Brenan Durainayagam; Vandre C Figueiredo; Karen Liu; Jian Guan; Alastair K H MacGibbon; Bertram Y Fong; Aaron C Fanning; Angela Rowan; Paul McJarrow; David Cameron-Smith Journal: Nutr Metab (Lond) Date: 2017-01-23 Impact factor: 4.169
Authors: Benjamin B Albert; José G B Derraik; Yin-Yin Xia; Tom Norris; Ting Zhang; Ting-Li Han; Chen Chang; Angela Rowan; Sophie Gallier; Renato T Souza; Judith J Hammond; Wei Zhou; Hua Zhang; Hong-Bo Qi; Philip N Baker Journal: PLoS One Date: 2021-02-24 Impact factor: 3.240