Effects of dietary restriction on the hippocampus and behavior of adult mice.

TODERO MF; POMILIO C; VINUESA A; APARICIO E; SARAVIA F; BEAUQUIS J

Mar del Plata

Congreso; Reunión Anual de la Sociedad Argentina de Investigación en Neurociencias; 2015

Sociedad Argentina de Investigación en Neurociencias

Dietary restriction (DR) has been associated with a reduction of age-associated diseases and to an increase in life expectancy in humans and animal models. Dietary restriction was shown to promote neuronal survival and functionality in the context of neurodegenerative diseases and normal aging. In the present work we aimed at studying the effect of DR on behavioral and neural parameters in 8-month old healthy mice. Daily food consumption was restricted to 60% for 6 weeks and behavioral tests and immunohistochemistry were conducted. We found decreased number of entries to open arms in the elevated plus maze in DR mice in comparison with controls, suggesting a reduction of anxious-like behavior. Mice in DR presented a decreased number of doublecortin (DCX) positive cells in the subgranular zone of the hippocampus, indicating impaired adult neurogenesis. In a parallel study, PDAPP-J20 transgenic mice, model of Alzheimer?s disease, suffered 100% mortality when exposed to DR. These results lead us to propose a less severe DR protocol for upcoming studies. We plan to study glial and neuronal parameters in hippocampus and amygdala in response to DR and, concomitantly, to evaluate cellular and molecular pathways involved in an in vitro model of cell starvation.