Protective Effects of Fish (Alaska Pollock) Protein Intake against Short-Term Memory Decline in Senescence-Accelerated Mice

• Published in: Nutrients
• Main Authors: Yuki Murakami, Ryota Hosomi, Ayano Nishimoto, Toshimasa Nishiyama, Munehiro Yoshida, Kenji Fukunaga
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: MDPI AG 2022
• Subjects: fish protein; fish oil; senescence-accelerated mouse prone 10; cognitive decline; demyelination; Nutrition. Foods and food supply; TX341-641; The ''Y''; alaska pollock; Alaska
• Online Access: https://doi.org/10.3390/nu14214618; https://doaj.org/article/181f6f3c9f2e4a0893e55228060329cf

Dietary fish intake has proven to have health benefits in humans. n -3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) in fish oil (FO), especially, may provide protection against age-related cognitive disorders. Owing to the unique benefits of n -3 PUFAs, other nutrients, such as fish protein (FP), have not been well studied. To clarify the effects of FO and FP on brain function, we investigated whether FO or FP feeding can prevent age-related cognitive dysfunction in senescence-accelerated mouse-prone 10 (SAMP10) mice. The FP group maintained a better working memory compared to the control and FO groups in the Y-maze test, but not episodic memory in the novel object recognition test. To evaluate demyelination levels, we measured neurofilament H (NfH) and myelin basic protein (MBP) immunoreactivity in the hippocampus (Hipp). Axon morphology was maintained in the FP group, but not in the control and FO groups. Additionally, the percentage of positive area for double-staining with NfH/MPB was significantly higher in the Hipp of FP-fed mice than in the control ( p < 0.05). These results suggest that FP intake prevents age-related cognitive dysfunction by maintaining axonal morphology in the Hipp of SAMP10 mice.