Dietary manipulation of vulnerability to traumatic brain injury-induced neuronal plasma membrane permeability

Exp Neurol. 2021 Feb 15:113649. doi: 10.1016/j.expneurol.2021.113649. Online ahead of print.ABSTRACTTraumatic brain injury (TBI) can produce physical disruptions in the plasma membranes of neurons, referred to as mechanoporation, which lead to increased cell permeability. We suspect that such trauma-induced membrane disruptions may be influenced by the physical properties of the plasma membrane, such as elasticity or rigidity. These membrane properties are influenced by lipid composition, which can be modulated via diet, leading to the intriguing possibility of prophylactically altering diet to confer resiliency to this mechanism of acute neuronal damage in TBI. In this proof-of-concept study, we used three different diets-one high in polyunsaturated fatty acids suggested to increase elasticity (Fish Oil), one high in saturated fatty acids and cholesterol suggested to increase rigidity (High Fat), and one standard rat chow (Control)-to alter brain plasma membrane lipid composition before subjecting rats to lateral fluid percussion injury (FPI). Lipid analysis (n = 12 rats) confirmed that diets altered brain fatty acid composition after 4 weeks of feeding, with the Fish Oil diet increasing unsaturated fatty acids, and interestingly, the High Fat diet increasing omega-6 docosapentaenoic acid. One cohort of animals (n = 34 rats) was assessed immediately after FPI or sham injury for acute changes in neuronal membrane permeability in the injury-adjacent cortex. Surprisingly, sham ...
Source: Experimental Neurology - Category: Neurology Authors: Source Type: research