US EPA

1512983 

Journal Article 

Preventive effects of Chlorella on cognitive decline in age-dependent dementia model mice 

Nakashima, Y; Ohsawa, I; Konishi, F; Hasegawa, T; Kumamoto, S; Suzuki, Y; Ohta, S 

2009 

1 

Neuroscience Letters
ISSN: 0304-3940
EISSN: 1872-7972 

464 

3 

193-198 

English 

19699777 

10.1016/j.neulet.2009.08.044 

WOS:000270659500010 

http://://WOS:000270659500010
Exit
 

Oxidative stress is one of the major causes of age-dependent memory loss and cognitive decline. Cytotoxic aldehydes are derived from lipid peroxides and their accumulation may be responsible for age-dependent neurodegeneration, including Alzheimer's disease. Since aldehyde dehydrogenases detoxify such aldehydes, we constructed transgenic mice with mitochondrial aldehyde dehydrogenase 2 (ALDH2) activity deficiency (DAL101 mice) as an age-dependent dementia model. This model animal is age-dependently progressed by persistent oxidative stress, and thus enables us to investigate foods that prevent dementia. Since Chlorella, a kind of alga, exhibits various anti-oxidative effects, we investigated whether Chlorella has the potential to prevent age-dependent cognitive impairment. We fed Chlorella to DAL101 mice and investigated its effects on oxidative stress and the progression of cognitive decline using the Morris water-maze and object recognition tests. The diet with Chlorella tended to reduce oxidative stress and significantly prevented the decline of cognitive ability, as shown by both methods. Moreover, consumption of Chlorella decreased the number of activated astrocytes in the DAL101 brain. These findings suggest that the prolonged consumption of Chlorella has the potential to prevent the progression of cognitive impairment. 

Aging; Aldehyde; ALDH2; Alzheimer's disease; Oxidative stress; Parachlorella beyerinckii