Issue 9, 2018

Walnut diets up-regulate the decreased hippocampal neurogenesis and age-related cognitive dysfunction in d-galactose induced aged rats

Abstract

Recently, dietary intervention has been considered as a prospective strategy in delaying age-related cognitive dysfunction and brain plasticity degeneration. This study explored the effect of walnut diets (6% and 9%, 8 weeks) on cognitive behavior, hippocampal neurogenesis and the neurotrophic signaling pathway in D-galactose (D-gal) model rats. Behavioral tests showed that walnut diets significantly reversed spatial memory loss in the Morris water test, locomotor activity deficiency in an open field test, and a recognition behavior reduction in a novel object recognition task. Immunohistochemistry analysis demonstrated walnut diets significantly increased the hippocampal neurogenesis in D-gal model rats. Moreover, western blot results indicated that walnut diets reserved a D-gal induced decrease of hippocampal pCREB (Ser133) and BDNF expression, two crucial intracellular molecules involved in hippocampal neurogenesis. These findings confirmed that chronic walnut-rich diets could ameliorate cognitive dysfunction in D-gal model rats, and the up-regulation of neurogenesis, as well as the expression of pCREB and BDNF in hippocampus, may be one of the molecular and cellular mechanisms underlying these effects.

Graphical abstract: Walnut diets up-regulate the decreased hippocampal neurogenesis and age-related cognitive dysfunction in d-galactose induced aged rats

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
12 Apr 2018
Accepted
30 Jun 2018
First published
04 Aug 2018

Food Funct., 2018,9, 4755-4762

Walnut diets up-regulate the decreased hippocampal neurogenesis and age-related cognitive dysfunction in D-galactose induced aged rats

L. An, Y. Sun, W. Zhang, X. Huang, R. Xue, Y. Zhang and Y. Wang, Food Funct., 2018, 9, 4755 DOI: 10.1039/C8FO00702K

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