title: Differential effect of arachidonic acid and docosahexaenoic acid on age-related decreases in hippocampal neurogenesis.
abstract: Hippocampal neurogenesis affects learning and memory. We evaluated in rats effects of ingestion of arachidonic acid (ARA) and/or docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) on age-related decreases in proliferating neural stem/progenitor cells (NSPCs) or newborn neurons (NNs). Rats were fed with ARA- and/or DHA-containing diet from 2 to 18 months old and then sacrificed 1 day or 4 weeks after 5-bromo-2-deoxyuridine (BrdU) injections at 2, 6 and 18 months. The numbers of NSPCs (SOX2+/BrdU+) and NNs (NeuN+/BrdU+) were determined immunohistochemically. The number of BrdU+ cells 1 day after BrdU injections decreased with age, but increased 65% after ARA ingestion compared to the control at 18 months. The SOX2+/BrdU+ cell ratio was unchanged by aging or ingestion of ARA or DHA. The number of NeuN+/BrdU+ cells 4 weeks after BrdU injections decreased with age, but increased 34% (yet not statistically significant) after DHA ingestion compared to the control at 18 months. These results indicate that ARA ingestion can ameliorate the age-related decrease in the number of NSPCs in rats. The functions of ARA and DHA in hippocampal neurogenesis appear to be different in aged rats; ARA may maintain an NSPC pool, whereas DHA may support NN production and/or survival.
authors.affiliation: Institute for Health Care Science, Suntory Wellness Ltd., Osaka, Japan.
authors.forename: Hisanori
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Tokuda
authors.affiliation: Institute for Health Care Science, Suntory Wellness Ltd., Osaka, Japan.
authors.forename: Masanori
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kontani
authors.affiliation: Institute for Health Care Science, Suntory Wellness Ltd., Osaka, Japan.
authors.forename: Hiroshi
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Kawashima
authors.affiliation: Institute for Health Care Science, Suntory Wellness Ltd., Osaka, Japan.
authors.forename: Yoshinobu
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Kiso
authors.affiliation: Institute for Health Care Science, Suntory Wellness Ltd., Osaka, Japan.
authors.forename: Hiroshi
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Shibata
authors.affiliation: Department of Developmental Neuroscience, Tohoku University Graduate School of Medicine, Sendai, Japan. Electronic address: osumi@med.tohoku.ac.jp.
authors.forename: Noriko
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Osumi
mesh_terms: D000375:Aging; D000818:Animals; D016718:Arachidonic Acid / Q000494:pharmacology*; D004032:Diet; D004281:Docosahexaenoic Acids / Q000494:pharmacology*; D006624:Hippocampus / Q000187:drug effects*; D008297:Male; D058953:Neural Stem Cells / Q000187:drug effects; D055495:Neurogenesis / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000502:physiology; D009474:Neurons / Q000187:drug effects; D011916:Rats, Inbred F344
chemical_list: D004281:Docosahexaenoic Acids; D016718:Arachidonic Acid
keywords: Aging; Arachidonic acid; Docosahexaenoic acid; Hippocampal neurogenesis; Neural stem cell