Fish oil and treadmill exercise have age-dependent effects on episodic memory and oxidative state of the hippocampus.
There is a growing interest to better understand how lifestyle choices can improve memory functions. Treadmill exercise and long-chain n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids found in fish oil are able to stimulate hippocampal antioxidant defenses and improve memory. The aim was to test whether fish oil and exercise can improve rat's performance on memory tasks and optimize hippocampal antioxidant state in an age-dependent manner. Therefore, young and adult rats were exercised and received fish oil during 4 weeks. The exercise was performed for 30 min/day, with the speed gradually increasing from the first to the last week. Afterwards, episodic memory was measured by the recognition of object identity and spatial location. Hippocampal oxidative state was investigated with the levels of malondialdehyde (MDA), carbonyls content, antioxidant enzymatic activity (superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT)), and antioxidant nonenzymatic activity (reduced glutathione, sulfhydryl content). The adult rats treated with fish oil and exercise (FO&EX) were able to recognize object's shape and placement; however, FO&EX young rats had impaired spatial recognition (p < 0.05). The FO&EX young rats did not have reduced MDA or carbonyl content, though either fish oil or exercise reduced MDA (p < 0.05) and carbonyl levels (p < 0.01). Exercise increased SOD (p < 0.001) and CAT activities (p < 0.05), and fish oil enhanced SOD activity (p < 0.05) in young rats. At adulthood, exercise increased MDA levels (p < 0.05), and FO&EX reduced MDA (p < 0.001). Finally, exercise and fish oil improved nonenzymatic antioxidant defense (p < 0.05) only in adult rats. Results support age-dependent effects of fish oil and exercise on memory and oxidative state of the hippocampus during either neurodevelopment or adulthood.
a Department of Nutrition/Health Sciences Center, Federal University of Pernambuco, Campus of Recife, Recife - PE 50670-901, Brazil.
Patrícia Fortes Cavalcanti de
PFC
Macêdo
a Department of Nutrition/Health Sciences Center, Federal University of Pernambuco, Campus of Recife, Recife - PE 50670-901, Brazil.
Janatar Stella Vasconcelos
JSV
de Melo
a Department of Nutrition/Health Sciences Center, Federal University of Pernambuco, Campus of Recife, Recife - PE 50670-901, Brazil.
Laís Alves Ribeiro
LAR
Costa
b Laboratory of Biochemistry and Exercise Biochemistry, Federal University of Pernambuco, Campus of Vitoria de Santo Antao, Vitoria de Santo Antao - PE 55608-680, Brazil.
Glauber Rudá F
GRF
Braz
b Laboratory of Biochemistry and Exercise Biochemistry, Federal University of Pernambuco, Campus of Vitoria de Santo Antao, Vitoria de Santo Antao - PE 55608-680, Brazil.
Shirley M
SM
de Sousa
b Laboratory of Biochemistry and Exercise Biochemistry, Federal University of Pernambuco, Campus of Vitoria de Santo Antao, Vitoria de Santo Antao - PE 55608-680, Brazil.
Cláudia J
CJ
Lagranha
a Department of Nutrition/Health Sciences Center, Federal University of Pernambuco, Campus of Recife, Recife - PE 50670-901, Brazil.
Manuella Batista-de-Oliveira
MB
Hornsby
D000375:Aging / Q000187:drug effects*; D000818:Animals; D015415:Biomarkers; D005395:Fish Oils / Q000494:pharmacology*; D015971:Gene Expression Regulation, Enzymologic / Q000187:drug effects; D005982:Glutathione Transferase / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D006624:Hippocampus / Q000187:drug effects*; D008568:Memory / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000502:physiology; D018384:Oxidative Stress / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000502:physiology; D010805:Physical Conditioning, Animal / Q000502:physiology*; D051381:Rats; D017208:Rats, Wistar
D015415:Biomarkers; D005395:Fish Oils; D005982:Glutathione Transferase
DHA; EPA; exercice sur tapis roulant; fish oil; hippocampal oxidative status; huile de poisson; object recognition; reconnaissance d’objet; statut oxydant de l’hippocampe; treadmill exercise