Gestational high fat diet protects 3xTg offspring from memory impairments, synaptic dysfunction, and brain pathology
Di Meco A, Jelinek J, Lauretti E, Curtis ME, Issa JJ, PraticĪ D (2019) Mol Psychiatry. 2019 Aug. doi: 10.1038/s41380-019-0489-y. [Epub ahead of print]
Maternal history for sporadic Alzheimer's disease (AD) predisposes the offspring to the disease later in life. However, the mechanisms behind this phenomenon are still unknown. Lifestyle and nutrition can directly modulate susceptibility to AD.
Herein we investigated whether gestationalhighfatdiet influences the offspring susceptibility to AD later in life. Triple transgenic dams were administered highfatdiet or regular chow throughout 3 weeks gestation. Offspring were fed regular chow throughout their life and tested for spatial learning and memory, brain amyloidosis, tau pathology, and synaptic function. Gestationalhighfatdiet attenuated memory decline, synapticdysfunction, amyloid-β and tau neuropathology in the offspring by transcriptional regulation of BACE-1, CDK5, and tau gene expression via the upregulation of FOXP2 repressor.
Gestationalhighfatdietprotectsoffspring against the development of the AD phenotype. In utero dietary intervention could be implemented as preventative strategy against AD.