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Green tea catechins confer potent biological properties including antioxidation and free-radical scavenging. We investigated the effect of long-term oral administration of green tea catechins (Polyphenon E, PE: EGCG 63%; EC 11%; EGC 6%; ECG 6%) mixed with water on the spatial cognition learning ability of young rats. The learning ability of rats administered PE (0%, 0.1%, 0.5%) for 26 wk was assessed in the partially baited 8-arm radial maze. Relative to controls, those administered PE had improved reference and working memory-related learning ability. They also had lower plasma concentrations of lipid peroxides and greater plasma ferric-reducing antioxidation power than controls. Furthermore, rats administered PE had lower hippocampus reactive oxygen species concentrations than controls. We suggest that this improvement in spatial cognitive learning ability is due to the antioxidative activity of green tea catechins.

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Docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) has been shown to promote neuronal differentiation of neural stem cells (NSCs) in vivo and in vitro. Previously, we found that N-docosahexenoyethanolamine (synaptamide), an endogenous DHA metabolite with endocannabinoid-like structure, promotes neurite growth, synaptogenesis and synaptic function. In this study, we demonstrate that synaptamide potently induces neuronal differentiation of NSCs. Differentiating NSCs were capable of synthesizing synaptamide from DHA. Treatment of NSCs with synaptamide at low nanomolar concentrations significantly increased the number of MAP2 and Tuj-1 positive neurons with concomitant induction of PKA/CREB phosphorylation. Conversely, PKA inhibitors or PKA knockdown abolished the synaptamide-induced neuronal differentiation of NSCs. URB597, a fatty acid amide hydrolase inhibitor, elevated the level of DHA-derived synaptamide and further potentiated the DHA- or synaptamide-induced neuronal differentiation of NSCs. Similarly, NSCs obtained from fatty acid amide hydrolase (FAAH) KO mice exhibited greater capacity to induce neuronal differentiation in response to DHA or synaptamide compared to the wild type NSCs. Neither synaptamide nor DHA affected NSC differentiation into GFAP-positive glia cells. These results suggest that endogenously produced synaptamide is a potent mediator for neurogenic differentiation of NSCs acting through PKA/CREB activation.

Male Wistar rats, initially maintained at an ambient temperature (T (a)) of 24 degrees C, were subjected to a constant high T (a) of 32 degrees C (HE) or were constantly kept at 24 degrees C (controls, CN). Bromodeoxyuridine (BrdU) was intraperitoneally injected daily for five consecutive days after commencing heat exposure. On the 6th, 13th, 23rd, 33rd, 43rd, and 53rd day of heat exposure, rats' brains were removed. Immunohistochemical analysis showed that the numbers of BrdU-positive cells in the hypothalamus of HE were significantly and consistently greater than those of CN. In HE, the number of BrdU-positive cells double-stained by a mature neuron marker increased abruptly after 33 days of heat exposure by about seven times. This was not the case in CN. The results suggest that heat exposure facilitates proliferation of neuronal progenitor cells in the hypothalamus and promotes differentiation to neurons, which might have certain relation to establishing long-term heat acclimation in rats.

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The mechanism of the effect of docosahexaenoic acid (DHA; C22:6, n‐3), one of the essential brain nutrients, on in vitro fibrillation of amyloid β (Aβ1–42), Aβ1–42‐oligomers and its toxicity imparted to SH‐S5Y5 cells was studied with the use of thioflavin T fluorospectroscopy, laser confocal microfluorescence, and transmission electron microscopy. The results clearly indicated that DHA inhibited Aβ1–42‐fibrill formation with a concomitant reduction in the levels of soluble Aβ1–42 oligomers. The polymerization (into fibrils) of preformed oligomers treated with DHA was inhibited, indicating that DHA not only obstructs their formation but also inhibits their transformation into fibrils. Sodium dodecyl sulfate–polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (12.5%), Tris–Tricine gradient(4–20%) gel electrophoresis and western blot analyses revealed that DHA inhibited at least 2 species of Aβ1–42 oligomers of 15–20 kDa, indicating that it hinders these on‐pathway tri/tetrameric intermediates during fibrillation. DHA also reduced the levels of dityrosine and tyrosine intrinsic fluorescence intensity, indicating DHA interrupts the microenvironment of tyrosine in the Aβ1–42 backbone. Furthermore, DHA protected the tyrosine from acrylamide collisional quenching, as indicated by decreases in Stern–Volmer constants. 3‐[4,5‐Dimethylthiazol‐2‐yl]‐2,5‐diphenyltetrazolium bromide‐reduction efficiency and immunohistochemical examination suggested that DHA inhibits Aβ1–42‐induced toxicity in SH‐S5Y5 cells. Taken together, these data suggest that by restraining Aβ1–42 toxic tri/tetrameric oligomers, DHA may limit amyloidogenic neurodegenerative diseases, Alzheimer’s disease.