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Blueberry supplementation induces spatial memory improvements and region-specific regulation of hippocampal BDNF mRNA expression in young rats

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Abstract

Rationale

Flavonoid-rich foods have been shown to be able to reverse age-related cognitive deficits in memory and learning in both animals and humans. However, to date, there have been only a limited number of studies investigating the effects of flavonoid-rich foods on cognition in young/healthy animals.

Objectives

The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of a blueberry-rich diet in young animals using a spatial working memory paradigm, the delayed non-match task, using an eight-arm radial maze. Furthermore, the mechanisms underlying such behavioural effects were investigated.

Results

We show that a 7-week supplementation with a blueberry diet (2 % w/w) improves the spatial memory performance of young rats (2 months old). Blueberry-fed animals also exhibited a faster rate of learning compared to those on the control diet. These behavioural outputs were accompanied by the activation of extracellular signal-related kinase (ERK1/2), increases in total cAMP-response element-binding protein (CREB) and elevated levels of pro- and mature brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) in the hippocampus. Changes in hippocampal CREB correlated well with memory performance. Further regional analysis of BDNF gene expression in the hippocampus revealed a specific increase in BDNF mRNA in the dentate gyrus and CA1 areas of hippocampi of blueberry-fed animals.

Conclusions

The present study suggests that consumption of flavonoid-rich blueberries has a positive impact on spatial learning performance in young healthy animals, and these improvements are linked to the activation of ERK–CREB–BDNF pathway in the hippocampus.

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Acknowledgments

This research was supported by the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (grant: BB/F008953/1) and the Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (grant: SFRH/BD/69711/2010) and they were greatly appreciated.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Molecular Nutrition Group, School of Chemistry, Food and Pharmacy, University of Reading, Reading, RG6 6AP, UK

    Catarina Rendeiro & Jeremy P. E. Spencer

  2. Department of Nutrition, Norwich Medical School, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, University of East Anglia, Norwich, NR4 7TJ, UK

    David Vauzour

  3. School of Psychology and Clinical Language Sciences, University of Reading, Harry Pitt Building Earley Gate, Reading, RG6 7BE, UK

    Catarina Rendeiro, Rebecca J. Kean, Laurie T. Butler & Claire M. Williams

  4. Reading School of Pharmacy, University of Reading, Reading, RG6 6UB, UK

    Marcus Rattray

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  1. Catarina Rendeiro
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Correspondence to Claire M. Williams.

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Rendeiro, C., Vauzour, D., Kean, R.J. et al. Blueberry supplementation induces spatial memory improvements and region-specific regulation of hippocampal BDNF mRNA expression in young rats. Psychopharmacology 223, 319–330 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00213-012-2719-8

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