Long-chain n-3 PUFAs from fish oil enhance resting state brain glucose utilization and reduce anxiety in an adult nonhuman primate, the grey mouse lemur

Fabien Pifferi (1) , Olène Dorieux , Christian-Alexandre Castellano , Etienne Croteau , Marie Masson (2) , Martine Guillermier (3) , Nadja van Camp (4) , Philippe Guesnet (5) , Jean-Marc Alessandri (6) , Stephen C. Cunnane (7) , Marc Dhenain (4) , Fabienne Aujard (8)

1 MAOAC - Mécanismes adaptatifs : des organismes aux communautés
2 UGA UFRP - Université Grenoble Alpes - UFR Pharmacie
3 MIRCEN - Service MIRCEN
4 LMN - Laboratoire des Maladies Neurodégénératives - UMR 9199
5 LNSA - Unité de recherche Nutrition et Sécurité Alimentaire
6 MICALIS - MICrobiologie de l'ALImentation au Service de la Santé
7 CHUQ - Centre de recherche du centre hospitalier de l'Université Laval
8 Mécanismes adaptatifs : des organismes aux communautés

Decreased brain content of DHA, the most abundant long-chain n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acid (n-3 LCPUFA) in the brain, is accompanied by severe neurosensorial impairments linked to impaired neurotransmission and impaired brain glucose utilization. In the present study, we hypothesized that increasing n-3 LCPUFA intake at an early age may help to prevent or correct the glucose hypometabolism observed during aging and age-related cognitive decline. The effects of 12 months' supplementation with n-3 LCPUFA on brain glucose utilization assessed by positron emission tomography was tested in young adult mouse lemurs (Microcebus murinus). Cognitive function was tested in parallel in the same animals. Lemurs supplemented with n-3 LCPUFA had higher brain glucose uptake and cerebral metabolic rate of glucose compared with controls in all brain regions. The n-3 LCPUFA-supplemented animals also had higher exploratory activity in an open-field task and lower evidence of anxiety in the Barnes maze.jlr Our results demonstrate for the first time in a nonhuman primate that n-3 LCPUFA supplementation increases brain glucose uptake and metabolism and concomitantly reduces anxiety.

Keywords: brain glucose hypometabolism; long-chain n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids; positron emission tomography imaging

Domains: Life Sciences [q-bio]; Neurons and Cognition [q-bio.NC]; Life Sciences [q-bio]

Fabien Pifferi, Olène Dorieux, Christian-Alexandre Castellano, Etienne Croteau, Marie Masson, et al.. Long-chain n-3 PUFAs from fish oil enhance resting state brain glucose utilization and reduce anxiety in an adult nonhuman primate, the grey mouse lemur. Journal of Lipid Research, 2015, 56 (8), pp.1511-1518. ⟨10.1194/jlr.M058933⟩. ⟨mnhn-02291865⟩