Effect of diet enriched with fatty acids in elderly mice: for biochemical and cognitive parameters

Abstract

With increasing age, there is a progressive decline in physiological and behavioral functions, these changes may lead to changes in metabolism reactions associated with memory loss or the loss of several control functions. Several studies support the theory that there is an increase in oxidative damage associated with age in most cellular systems. This oxidative stress can occur due to increased production of reactive oxygen species, and a decrease to repair the damage and antioxidant activities. The brain is particularly vulnerable to oxidative damage as a result of its high levels of polyunsaturated fatty acids, high oxygen consumption, high levels of transition metals, and poor antioxidant defenses. The route of kynurenine (KP) which metabolises tryptophan, has generated considerable interest among neuroscientists, after the consistent observation that their levels and metabolites are involved in various neuropathological and diseases involving immune activation conditions being associated with Huntington's disease, Alzheimer's disease, ischemia, epilepsy, and related to the aging process. There is a search for substances that reduce or nullify the damage caused by oxidative stress and the fish oil has been shown to be a good candidate to meet these requirements. However, few studies have investigated the correlation between via the kynurenine, aging and mechanisms to mitigate the damage caused in this way, so this study was to evaluate changes in the levels of key enzymes and metabolites of KP, and degradation levels of some substances to indicate damage to brain tissue, and fish oil ability to alleviate this damage during the aging process. The fish oil could partially reverse various parameters such as the activity of KMO enzyme, tryptophan and other products KP, markers of oxidative damage to proteins, lipids and DNA, and in some parameters there was a complete reduction as the enzyme IDO, the glutathione, and quinurênico acid in at least one of the tissues analyzed, demosntrando that supplementation with fish oil is effective in reducing damage caused by age.