Transcriptomic analysis of the effects of a fish oil enriched diet on murine brains

PLoS One. 2014 Mar 14;9(3):e90425. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0090425. eCollection 2014.

Abstract

The health benefits of fish oil enriched with high omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (n-3 PUFA) are widely documented. Fish oil as dietary supplements, however, show moderate clinical efficacy, highlighting an immediate scope of systematic in vitro feedback. Our transcriptomic study was designed to investigate the genomic shift of murine brains fed on fish oil enriched diets. A customized fish oil enriched diet (FD) and standard lab diet (SD) were separately administered to two randomly chosen populations of C57BL/6J mice from their weaning age until late adolescence. Statistical analysis mined 1,142 genes of interest (GOI) differentially altered in the hemibrains collected from the FD- and SD-fed mice at the age of five months. The majority of identified GOI (∼ 40%) encodes proteins located in the plasma membrane, suggesting that fish oil primarily facilitated the membrane-oriented biofunctions. FD potentially augmented the nervous system's development and functions by selectively stimulating the Src-mediated calcium-induced growth cascade and the downstream PI3K-AKT-PKC pathways. FD reduced the amyloidal burden, attenuated oxidative stress, and assisted in somatostatin activation-the signatures of attenuation of Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease, and affective disorder. FD induced elevation of FKBP5 and suppression of BDNF, which are often linked with the improvement of anxiety disorder, depression, and post-traumatic stress disorder. Hence we anticipate efficacy of FD in treating illnesses such as depression that are typically triggered by the hypoactivities of dopaminergic, adrenergic, cholinergic, and GABAergic networks. Contrastingly, FD's efficacy could be compromised in treating illnesses such as bipolar disorder and schizophrenia, which are triggered by hyperactivities of the same set of neuromodulators. A more comprehensive investigation is recommended to elucidate the implications of fish oil on disease pathomechanisms, and the result-driven repositioning of fish oil utilization may revitalize its therapeutic efficacy.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor / genetics
  • Dietary Fats, Unsaturated / adverse effects
  • Fatty Acids, Omega-3 / pharmacology
  • Fatty Acids, Omega-6 / pharmacology
  • Fish Oils / pharmacology*
  • Gene Expression Regulation / drug effects
  • Male
  • Mice
  • Mice, Inbred C57BL
  • Tacrolimus Binding Proteins / genetics
  • Transcriptome / drug effects
  • Transcriptome / genetics*

Substances

  • Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor
  • Dietary Fats, Unsaturated
  • Fatty Acids, Omega-3
  • Fatty Acids, Omega-6
  • Fish Oils
  • Tacrolimus Binding Proteins
  • tacrolimus binding protein 5

Grants and funding

Funding was provided by the Military and Operational Medicine Research Area Directorate III. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.