title: Early supplementation of phospholipids and gangliosides affects brain and cognitive development in neonatal piglets.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Because human breast milk is a rich source of phospholipids and gangliosides and breastfed infants have improved learning compared with formula-fed infants, the importance of dietary phospholipids and gangliosides for brain development is of interest.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  We sought to determine the effects of phospholipids and gangliosides on brain and cognitive development.
  
  
  METHODS
  Male and female piglets from multiple litters were artificially reared and fed formula containing 0% (control), 0.8%, or 2.5% Lacprodan PL-20 (PL-20; Arla Foods Ingredients), a phospholipid/ganglioside supplement, from postnatal day (PD) 2 to PD28. Beginning on PD14, performance in a spatial T-maze task was assessed. At PD28, brain MRI data were acquired and piglets were killed to obtain hippocampal tissue for metabolic profiling.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Diet affected maze performance, with piglets that were fed 0.8% and 2.5% PL-20 making fewer errors than control piglets (80% vs. 75% correct on average; P < 0.05) and taking less time to make a choice (3 vs. 5 s/trial; P < 0.01). Mean brain weight was 5% higher for piglets fed 0.8% and 2.5% PL-20 (P < 0.05) than control piglets, and voxel-based morphometry revealed multiple brain areas with greater volumes and more gray and white matter in piglets fed 0.8% and 2.5% PL-20 than in control piglets. Metabolic profiling of hippocampal tissue revealed that multiple phosphatidylcholine-related metabolites were altered by diet.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  In summary, dietary phospholipids and gangliosides improved spatial learning and affected brain growth and composition in neonatal piglets.
authors.affiliation: Department of Animal Sciences, Institute of Animal Nutrition, Northeast Agricultural University, Harbin, China.
authors.forename: Hongnan
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: Department of Animal Sciences, Division of Nutritional Sciences, and.
authors.forename: Emily C
authors.initials: EC
authors.lastname: Radlowski
authors.affiliation: Neuroscience Program, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL; and.
authors.forename: Matthew S
authors.initials: MS
authors.lastname: Conrad
authors.affiliation: Institute of Animal Nutrition, Northeast Agricultural University, Harbin, China.
authors.forename: Yao
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Department of Animal Sciences, Division of Nutritional Sciences, and Neuroscience Program, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL; and.
authors.forename: Ryan N
authors.initials: RN
authors.lastname: Dilger
authors.affiliation: Department of Animal Sciences, Division of Nutritional Sciences, and Neuroscience Program, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL; and rwjohn@illinios.edu.
authors.forename: Rodney W
authors.initials: RW
authors.lastname: Johnson
mesh_terms: D000821:Animal Feed; D000818:Animals; D000831:Animals, Newborn; D001921:Brain / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000254:growth & development; D003071:Cognition / Q000187:drug effects*; D004032:Diet; D019587:Dietary Supplements; D005260:Female; D005732:Gangliosides / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D007858:Learning / Q000187:drug effects; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D055432:Metabolomics; D010743:Phospholipids / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D013552:Swine
chemical_list: D005732:Gangliosides; D010743:Phospholipids
keywords: 23 ganglioside; brain; cognition; phospholipid; piglet