Dietary menhaden fish oil supplementation suppresses lipopolysaccharide-induced neuroinflammation and cognitive impairment in diabetic rats

Abstract

Context

Menhaden fish oil (FO) is widely recognized for inhibiting neuroinflammatory responses and preserving brain function. Nevertheless, the mechanisms of FO influencing brain cognitive function in diabetic states remain unclear.

Objective

This study examines the potential role of FO in suppressing LPS-induced neuroinflammation and cognitive impairment in diabetic animals (DA).

Materials and methods

Thirty male Wistar rats were divided into 5 groups: i) DA received LPS induction (DA-LPS); ii) DA received LPS induction and 1 g/kg FO (DA-LPS-1FO); iii) DA received LPS induction and 3 g/kg FO (DA-LPS-3FO); iv) animals received normal saline and 3 g/kg FO (NS-3FO) and v) control animals received normal saline (CTRL). Y-maze test was used to measure cognitive performance, while brain samples were collected for inflammatory markers and morphological analysis.

Results

DA received LPS induction, and 1 or 3 g/kg FO significantly inhibited hyperglycaemia and brain inflammation, as evidenced by lowered levels of pro-inflammatory mediators. Additionally, both DA-LPS-1FO and DA-LPS-3FO groups exhibited a notable reduction in neuronal damage and glial cell migration compared to the other groups. These results were correlated with the increasing number of entries and time spent in the novel arm of the Y-maze test.

Discussion and conclusion

This study indicates that supplementation of menhaden FO inhibits the LPS signaling pathway and protects against neuroinflammation, consequently maintaining cognitive performance in diabetic animals. Thus, the current study suggested that fish oil may be effective as a supporting therapy option for diabetes to avoid diabetes-cognitive impairment.

Keywords:

• Brain
• hyperglycaemia
• interleukin
• neurodegenerative
• streptozotocin
• tumour necrosis factor

Acknowledgments

The authors would like to thank the Universiti Putra Malaysia. The authors also would like to express gratitude to the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Universitas Brawijaya, for supporting this study.

Authors’ contributions

Nurina Titisari: conceptualization, performing experiment, data curation, methodology, formal analysis, writing-original draft. Ahmad Fauzi: analysis, editing. Intan Shameha Abdul Razak: conceptualization, methodology, supervision. Mohd Hezmee Mohd Noor: methodology, supervision. Nurdiana Samsulrizal: conceptualization, methodology, supervision. Hafandi Ahmad: conceptualization, data curation, methodology, validation, project administration, supervision, review, and editing. Authors agree to be accountable for all aspects of work, ensuring integrity and accuracy.

Disclosure statement

The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Universiti Putra Malaysia for funding this work through Putra Grant Scheme (GP-IPS: 9722900) and the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Universitas Brawijaya.