Lipid characterization of cortical brain in a STZ-Induced Rat Model of Sporadic Alzheimer¡¯s Disease.

CRESPO R; ZAPPA VILLAR MF; REGGIANI PC

Congreso; LII Reunion Anual de SAIB 2016; 2016

Sporadic Alzheimer¡¯s disease (sAD) is the most common form of dementia among older people. This study aimed to examine the lipid classes and fatty acid composition from brain cortex and the cognitive function of a rat model of sAD generated by the intracerebroventricular (icv) injection of a sub-diabetogenic dose of streptozotocin (STZ) to explore possible lipid profile alterations that could correlate with this neuropathology and validate the model for future gene therapy assays. Three-month-old male rats were icvSTZ injected with 1 and 3 mg/ Kg or vehicle. On experimental day (ED) 14, cognitive performance was evaluated by Barnes maze and Novel Object Recognition test. Rats were sacrificed on ED 24. Lipid analyses were performed by thin-layer and capillary gas chromatography.The high STZ dose induced significant cognitive deficits (P¡Ü0.01) and in the brain cortex it displayed low levels of n-3 long chain polyunsaturated fatty acids (mainly 22:6n-3) and reduced unsaturation and peroxidability indexes. Free cholesterol content was not modified but levels of triglycerides and cholesterol esters showed a slight increase. The low STZ dose did not induce significant changes. These results demonstrated that icvSTZ administration of 3 mg/Kg produced alterations in cognitive and lipid profiles that resembled sAD, thus we propose this animal model to study sAD potential therapies.