Effect of Lipids Extracted from a Salted Herring Roe Food Product on Maze-Behavior in Mice

Abstract

Summary Male mice (11 mo old) were fed 5% lard, fish oil, or Kazunoko (salted fish roe product) lipids for 4 mo to investigate their effects on maze behavior. The time required and distance traveled to reach the maze exit, and number of times that a mouse strayed into blind alleys in the maze, and the fatty acid compositions of brain lipids after the mazebehavior experiment were measured. The Kazunoko lipid group showed a significant improvement in all three parameters compared with the lard diet group, but the fish oil group showed only a significant decrease in the number of times that a mouse strayed into blind alleys compared with the lard diet group. The mice in the fish oil and Kazunoko lipid groups had significantly lower levels of arachidonic acid and higher percentages of docosahexaenoic acid in brain lipids compared with animals in the lard group. The mice in the Kazunoko lipid group had significantly lower levels of arachidonic acid in brain lipids than those in the fish oil group but the percentages of docosahexaenoic acid were not significantly different between these two diet groups. Our results suggest that an intake of Kazunoko lipids may suppress the percentage of n -6 fatty acids in brain lipids and this diet can be even more effective than fish oil as a supplement to improve learning capacity in mice.

A Comparative Study of Lipids Extracted from Herring Roe Products and Fish Oil on Plasma Glucose and Adipocytokine Levels in ICR Aged Mice

“…The significantly lower plasma and liver 20:4n-6 levels in mice on the kazunoko lipid diet compared with those in the fish oil diet group were consistent with our previous observations of an intake of kazunoko lipid reducing plasma, liver, and brain 20:4n-6 levels Shirai et al, 2006b). The extent of PC intake does not appear to influence plasma fatty acid composition (Lim and Suzuki, 2002), but a large cholesterol intake, as would occur with the kazunoko lipid diet, has been shown to reduce the percentage of 20:4n-6 in plasma and liver (Shimada et al, 2003).…”

Marine Omega-3 Phospholipids: Metabolism and Biological Activities

“…In mice, the intake of extracted herring roe lipids led to an increase in plasma adiponectin levels and a decrease in plasma TG, PL, total cholesterol, and glucose amounts [8]. The same authors have also shown in a maze-behavior experiment that the extracted lipids improve learning capacity in mice [9]. Three other studies using n-3 rich PLs from herring roe have further demonstrated beneficial effects in different animal models [8,9,66,71].…”

“…The same authors have also shown in a maze-behavior experiment that the extracted lipids improve learning capacity in mice [9]. Three other studies using n-3 rich PLs from herring roe have further demonstrated beneficial effects in different animal models [8,9,66,71]. In obese Otsuka Long-Evans Tokushima fatty rats, an animal model used for human obesity, PC extracted from salmon roe led to a reduction in liver weight and hepatic lipid levels after four weeks of administration [94].…”

Effects of Dietary Docosahexaenoic Acid Connecting Phospholipids on the Learning Ability and Fatty Acid Composition of the Brain

“…It has been previously reported in several studies that n-3 fatty acid intake improved the learning and memory abilities of rats or mice, shown by maze behavior tests (20,21), brightness-discrimination learning tests (22), eight-arm radial maze tests (23), and Morris water maze tests (24). In these studies, it was considered that the n-3 fatty acid intake enhanced the brain DHA level, and as a consequence, the fluidity of the synaptic membrane increases and the learning ability improves (25).…”