Navigation
Coffee polyphenols ameliorate early-life stress-induced cognitive deficits in male mice
Exposure to stress during the critical period of early development has been shown to influence brain programming and increase the odds of suffering from cognitive impairments later in life. Early-life stress (ES) causes cognitive deterioration in adulthood, linked to alterations in hippocampus neurogenesis and neuroinflammation, as shown by Geertsema et al. (2024). Specifically, ES has been found to affect neurogenesis homeostasis and new neuronal survival, as well as alter the response of microglia to immune or metabolic stress later in life, changes which the authors postulate may contribute to the cognitive deficits observed after ES. Emerging evidence suggests that early nutritional interventions may help mitigate these negative effects through a process known as nutritional programming. The authors discovered that certain coffee-related metabolites act as a component of a protective molecular profile against cognitive decline based on human metabolomics research. Coffee polyphenols, which include chlorogenic and caffeic acids, have shown strong anti-inflammatory and antioxidant capabilities. Therefore, this study aimed to investigate the impact of adding caffeic and chlorogenic acids to an early diet to prevent cognitive abnormalities brought on by ES. The authors experimented on postnatal days 2 through 9 mice by eliciting ES. On the second day, mice were given an interventional diet, which was supplemented with 0.02% chlorogenic acid (5-O-caffeoylquinic acid) and 0.02% caffeic acid (3’,4’-dihydroxycinnamic acid) or a control diet, continuing until postnatal day 42. All mice were given a battery of behavioral tests at 4 months of age, and the brains were analyzed for neurogenesis and microglia indicators. Study findings demonstrated that early coffee polyphenol administration prevented cognitive impairments brought on by ES. This protection may involve mechanisms related to the survival of neurons or microglia, though other factors not explored in this study could also contribute. This research further supports the potential benefits of early nutritional interventions, highlighting polyphenols as nutrients that can help protect against cognitive decline, particularly for vulnerable populations exposed to early-life stress. [NPID: Early-life stress, polyphenols, microglia, cognition]
Year: 2024
