A salmon based diet protects mice from behavioural changes in the cuprizone model for demyelination

作者：Torkildsen Oivind^*; Brunborg Linn Anne; Milde Anne Marita; Mork Sverre J; Myhr Kjell Morten; Bo Lars

来源：Clinical Nutrition, 2009, 28(1): 83-87.

DOI：10.1016/j.clnu.2008.10.015

• Cuprizone
• Demyelination
• Omega-3 fatty acids
• Animal model
• Multiple sclerosis

Background & aims: Although many patients with multiple sclerosis (MS) use special diets, the data available at present are insufficient to assess any potential benefit of diet modification. Cuprizone induced demyelination is a commonly used animal model for demyelination in the central nervous system.
Methods: The present Study was designed to analyse behaviour and activity due to demyelination in mice fed with 0.2% cuprizone on three different diets. The diets consisted of (1) salmon fillets rich in marine n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs), (2) cod liver oil rich in marine n-3 PUFAs, or (3) a control diet containing soybean oil rich in n-6 PUFAs. After 5 weeks of continuous cuprizone treatment, animal activity was assessed with the elevated Plus maze (EPM) test. After 6 weeks the brains were fixated in paraformaldehyde and stained with luxol fast blue (LFB).
Results: There was significantly less demyelination in the salmon-cuprizone group than in the two other cuprizone-treatment groups (P < 0.0005). The salmon-cuprizone mice had less weight loss (P < 0.001) and showed more visits in both open and closed arms of the elevated Plus maze than the other cuprizone-treated groups (P < 0.0001). In addition they had more entries in the open arms than both the cod liver oil-cuprizone (P < 0.02) and the soybean oul-cuprizone-treated mice (P < 0.0001).
Conclusions: A diet containing salmon seems to protect against behavioural changes induced by demyelination in the cuprizone model, indicating that a fish diet could have a protective effect in demyelinating diseases.

• 出版日期2009-2