Protective effect of alpha-melanocyte stimulating hormone in cognitive impairment and oxidative stress associated with the consumption of a high-fat diet

virtual

Congreso; Annual meeting of RICIFA; 2021

RICIFA Reunión Internacional de Ciencias Farmacéuticas

Protective effect of alpha-melanocyte stimulating hormone in cognitive impairment and oxidative stress associated with the consumption of a high-fat diet. Guadalupe Herrera 1*, M. Jazmín Silvero C. 3, Mercedes Lasaga 2, Teresa Scimonelli 1#, María Cecilia Becerra 3##: igual contribución 1 Instituto de Farmacología Experimental de Córdoba (IFEC-CONICET). Depto. Farmacología, Facultad de Ciencias Químicas, Universidad Nacional de Córdoba, Argentina. 2 Instituto de Investigaciones Biomédicas INBIOMED UBA-CONICET, Facultad de Medicina, Buenos Aires, Argentina. 3 Instituto Multidisciplinario de Biología Vegetal (IMBIV-CONICET). Depto. de Ciencias Farmacéuticas, Facultad de Ciencias Químicas, Universidad Nacional de, Córdoba, Argentina. *Correspondence: guadalupe.herrera@unc.edu.arAbstract:The link between consumption of a high-fat diet (HFD) and impairments in cognitive processes is unclear yet. Previous studies have shown that long term consumption of HFD could induce neuroinflammation and enhanced oxidative stress. However, consumption of a HFD for a short period of time can exacerbate the inflammatory response to a mild immune challenge, especially in the hippocampus, an area involved in contextual memory. Alpha-melanocyte stimulating hormone (α-MSH) exerts antiinflammatory and neuroprotective effects. We studied whether short-term (5 days) HFD consumption plus a mild immune challenge (LPS 10µg/Kg), could induce cognitive deficits and an increase of oxidative stress. Our results show that short-term HFD does not affect body weight, however, produces changes in total cholesterol. HFD impaired contextual fear memory in rats that received LPS. This effect was associated with an increase of markers of oxidative stress in the dorsal hippocampus. The treatment with α-MSH reverses both effects: the impairment in contextual memory and the increase in oxidative stress.Our results indicate that HFD consumption for a short period sensitizes CNS to a subsequent immune challenge and produces impairment in the contextual fear memory that could be related to changes in oxidative stress. α-MSH could have a protective effect.