Amelioration of walnut, peony seed and camellia seed oils against d-galactose-induced cognitive impairment in mice by regulating gut microbiota

Abstract

Diet adjustment will affect the health of gut microbiota, which in turn influences the development and function of the organism's brain through the gut–brain axis. Walnut oil (WO), peony seed oil (PSO) and camellia seed oil (CSO), as typical representatives of woody plant oils, have been shown to have the potential to improve cognitive impairment in mice, but the function mechanisms are not clear. In this study, we comparatively investigated the neuroprotective effects of these three oils on D-galactose (D-gal)-induced cognitive impairment in mice, and found that the ameliorative effect of WO was more prominent. During the behavioral experiments, supplementation with all three oils would improve spatial learning and memory functions in D-gal mice, with a significant reduction in the error times (p < 0.001) and a significant increase in step-down latency (p < 0.001); walnut oil supplementation also significantly increased the number of hidden platform traversals, the target quadrant spent times and percentage of distance (p < 0.05). The results of biomarker analysis showed that WO, in addition to significantly inhibiting D-gal-induced oxidative stress and neuroinflammation as did PSO, significantly increased the ACh content in the mouse brain (p < 0.05) and modulated neurotransmitter levels. The results of further microbiota diversity sequencing experiments also confirmed that dietary supplementation with all three oils affected the diversity and composition of the gut microbiota in mice. Among them, WO significantly restored the balance of the mouse gut microbiota by increasing the abundance of beneficial bacteria (Bacteroidetes, Actinobacteria, Firmicutes) and decreasing the abundance of harmful bacteria (Clostridium, Shigella, Serratia), which was consistent with the results of behavioral experiments and biomarker analyses. Based on the analysis of the fatty acid composition of the three oils and changes in the gut microbiota, it is hypothesized that there is a correlation between the fatty acid composition of the dietary supplement oils and neuroprotective effects. The superiority of WO over PSO and CSO in improving cognitive impairment is mainly attributed to its balanced composition of omega-6 and omega-3 fatty acids.