Cognition, Behavior, and Memory
Author: Facundo Peralta | Email: facundoperalta@med.unlp.edu.ar
Facundo Peralta1°, Ana Abril Vidal Escobedo1°, Juliette López Hanotte1°, Juan Ignacio Posada2°, Dylan Simón Canale1°, Joaquín Pardo1°, Paula Cecilia Reggiani1°2°
1° Instituto de Investigaciones Bioquímicas de La Plata `Prof. Dr. Rodolfo R. Brenner´ (CONICET-UNLP)
2° Cátedra de Citología, Histología y Embriología, Facultad de Ciencias Médicas, UNLP
Neurodegeneration-associated diseases are issues to be addressed for the well-being of future generations. We explore therapies that address this problem by utilizing a rat model induced by a single intracerebroventricular (ICV) injection of streptozotocin (STZ). In this opportunity, we aim to evaluate the effect of oral dietary supplementation with omega-3 (ⴍ3) fatty acids, focussing on behavioural performance and molecular changes in the hippocampus (HC), two features particularly affected in our model. On week 0, animals were randomly grouped (n=8/group) into SHAM, STZ, and STZ+ⴍ3, and received icv-artificial cerebral spinal fluid (SHAM) or STZ (STZ/STZ+ⴍ3) (3mg/kg) bilaterally. Among week 1 and 12, STZ+ⴍ3 rats were treated daily with ⴍ3 (Regulip1000 150 μl: 44,5 mg ⴍ3/rat). Two weeks before euthanizing, behavioural tests were performed. Immature neurons and astrocytes in the HC were examined using immunohistochemical labelling for doublecortin and glial fibrillary acidic protein, respectively. We observed that ⴍ3 treatment ameliorates STZ-induced neurodegeneration associated with species-typical behaviour, short-term but not long-term recognition memory, and depressive-like behaviour. At the molecular level, it modulated astrocytes and partially restored the number of immature neurons. We conclude that neurodegenerative features can be mitigated through a minimally invasive therapeutic strategy when using an appropriate therapeutic factor such as ⴍ3.