The synergic effects between exercise training and omega-3 fatty acid intake on cognitive function and neuro-inflammation in a diet-induced obese mice model

• Grant number: 22/15062-0
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Doctorate
• Start date until: June 01, 2023
• End date until: May 31, 2026
• Field of knowledge: Health Sciences - Nutrition - Nutrition Biochemistry
• Principal Investigator: Dennys Esper Corrêa Cintra
• Grantee: Leandro Kansuke Oharomari
• Host Institution: Faculdade de Ciências Aplicadas (FCA). Universidade Estadual de Campinas (UNICAMP). Limeira , SP, Brazil

Abstract

In the past few decades, several modifiable lifestyle risk factors for dementia have been recognized, such as obesity, physical inactivity, and imbalanced nutrition. Therefore, by investigating the early onsets of neuropathology with different exercise regimens and/or with different nutraceutical ingestion using a metabolic disrupted animal model, the scientific community will be closer to discovering how to blunt the future burden of aging societies caused by cognitive decline. For instance, our previous data showed that exercise increases the GPR-120 receptor, therefore exercise and omega-3 fatty acid intake, simultaneously, may have a synergistic effect, especially regarding inflammatory balance. In this study, after feeding for eight weeks of a high-fat diet (31% of lard) to induce obesity, mice will be separated into four groups: (i) Sedentary; (ii) Exercise (5 x week, 40min, treadmill running at 60% Vmax); (iii) Omega-3 (1/3 of flaxseed oil in substitution of lard); (iv) Exercise plus Omega-3. Another parallel control group feeding with a norm caloric diet without exercise or omega-3 will be used to confirm the high-fat diet effects. After four weeks of treatments, all groups will be submitted to the Morris Water Maze test to check their cognitive function. Twenty-four hours after the last day of the behavioral test, serum, liver, epididymal adipose tissue, muscles, and different brain regions will be collected to evaluate omega-3 content and its metabolism, inflammatory markers, and neurodegenerative proteinopathy markers, such as TAU and beta-amyloid. Furthermore, this study is aimed to identify, which different hippocampal cells type and which different hippocampal areas the above synergistic effect is occurring. Taken together, these results will contribute to clarifying and strengthening the scientific literature on how nutrition and exercise can synergistically interact with each other to mitigate the cognitive decline caused by the modern-obesogenic lifestyle.