Effects of dietary intervention on MRI activity, de- and remyelination in the cuprizone model for demyelination

Exp Neurol. 2009 Jan;215(1):160-6. doi: 10.1016/j.expneurol.2008.09.026. Epub 2008 Oct 22.

Abstract

Whether differences in diet composition may influence demyelinating diseases remains controversial. The aim of this study was to analyse if diets with a different composition of polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) could influence demyelination and remyelination in cuprizone fed mice, a widely used animal model for de- and remyelination. C57Bl/6 mice were fed with 0.2% cuprizone on three different diets. The diets consisted of the same ingredients, except the lipid source, which came from 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 cuprizone treatment, the mice given salmon-cuprizone had significantly less hyperintense lesion volume on brain magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) than the two other groups (P<0.0005). After 6 weeks of cuprizone treatment, the salmon-cuprizone group had less demyelination in the corpus callosum, as measured with luxol fast blue (LFB) (P<0.0005) and anti-proteolipid protein (PLP) (P=0.014). The salmon-cuprizone group also had enhanced remyelination compared to the cod liver oil-cuprizone group (LFB; P=0.003, PLP; P=0.018). This study indicates that a fish rich diet may offer a protective role in demyelination. The source of N-3 PUFAs, or other components in the fish, may be important, as no effect of a cod liver oil based diet was observed. This may be of importance related to the discrepant results in dietary intervention studies for demyelinating diseases.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • Antigens, Differentiation / metabolism
  • Corpus Callosum / pathology
  • Corpus Callosum / physiopathology
  • Cuprizone*
  • Demyelinating Diseases / chemically induced*
  • Demyelinating Diseases / diet therapy*
  • Demyelinating Diseases / pathology
  • Disease Models, Animal
  • Fatty Acids, Unsaturated / administration & dosage*
  • Female
  • Glial Fibrillary Acidic Protein / metabolism
  • Indoles
  • Injections, Intravenous / methods
  • Magnetic Resonance Imaging / methods
  • Mice
  • Mice, Inbred C57BL
  • Myelin Proteolipid Protein / metabolism
  • Recovery of Function / physiology
  • Statistics, Nonparametric

Substances

  • Antigens, Differentiation
  • Fatty Acids, Unsaturated
  • Glial Fibrillary Acidic Protein
  • Indoles
  • Myelin Proteolipid Protein
  • Plp1 protein, mouse
  • monocyte-macrophage differentiation antigen
  • Luxol Fast Blue MBS
  • Cuprizone