Navigation
Fish oil supplementation alleviates metabolic and anxiodepressive effects of diet-induced obesity and associated changes in brain lipid composition in mice
While it is known that omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (n-3 PUFA) can improve metabolic and mood decline by reducing inflammation, Demers et al. (2020) set out to determine the impact of n-3 PUFAs on energy homeostasis, anxiodepressive behavior, brain lipid composition, and gliosis in the diet-induced obese state. In this animal-model study, male C57Bl/6J mice were fed a saturated high-fat diet (HFD) or chow for 20 weeks, while also receiving fish oil [enriched with either control corn oil or a mixture of docosahexaenoic (DHA) and eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) at equal ratios] during the last 5 weeks. During the final week of supplementation, behavior was assessed using tests such as the elevated-plus maze, light-dark box, and forced swim tasks. Gas chromatography-mass spectrometry and real-time PCR also allowed insight into the forebrain lipid composition and markers of microglia activation and astrogliosis in the mice. The glucose intolerance and reduced hyperphagia observed in the obese mice fed with HFD were corrected with 5 weeks of fish oil supplementation without affecting adipose mass. This supplementation also reduced depressive and anxious behavior, suppressed gene expression markers of brain reactive gliosis, and restored the levels of brain lipids that were depleted by the high-fat diet, particularly anti-inflammatory PUFA. Since supplementation with fish oil rich in EPA and DHA, given following a saturated HFD, corrected glucose intolerance, discouraged food consumption, suppressed anxiodepressive behaviors, enhanced anti-inflammatory brain lipids, and dampened indices of brain gliosis in obese mice, increasing dietary n-3 PUFA may be a helpful piece of advice to treat metabolic and mood imbalances associated with excess fat consumption and obesity. [NPID: omega-3s polyunsaturated fatty acids, n-3 PUFA, PUFA, inflammation, anxiodepressive behavior, brain lipid composition, gliosis, high-fat diet, fish oil, DHA, EPA, glucose, adipose tissue]
Year: 2020
