Diets rich in the plant compound luteolin reduces age-related inflammation in the brain and related memory deficits.
Luteolin is found in many plants, including carrots, peppers, celery, olive oil, peppermint, rosemary and chamomile. The compound inhibits the release of inflammatory molecules in the brain.
According to researchers who examined the effects of dietary luteolin in a mouse model of aging and reported their findings in the Journal of Nutrition.
The researchers focused on specialized immune cells that reside in the brain and spinal cord. Inflammation in the brain also appears to be a key contributor to age-related memory problems, said the University of Illinois animal sciences professor who led the new study.
Scientists found previously that during normal aging, microglial cells become dysregulated and begin producing excessive levels of inflammatory cytokines. The researcher has spent nearly a decade studying the anti-inflammatory properties of nutrients and various bioactive plant compounds, including luteolin.
According to the American Association for Long-Term Care Insurance which tracks aging research and issues, this is the first study to suggest, however, that luteolin improves cognitive health by acting directly on the microglial cells to reduce their production of inflammatory cytokines in the brain.
The researchers showed that microglial cells that were exposed to a bacterial toxin produced inflammatory cytokines that could kill neurons. When the microglia were exposed to luteolin before they encountered the toxin, however, the neurons lived.
The researchers next turned their attention to the effects of luteolin on the brains and behavior of adult (3- to 6-month-old) and aged (2-year-old) mice. The mice were fed a control diet or a luteolin-supplemented diet for four weeks. The researchers assessed their spatial memory and measured levels of inflammatory markers in the hippocampus, a brain region that is important to memory and spatial awareness.
Normally, aged mice have higher levels of inflammatory molecules in the hippocampus and are more impaired on memory tests than younger adult mice. Aged mice on the luteolin-supplemented diet, however, did better on the learning and memory task than their peers, and the levels of inflammatory cytokines in their brains were more like those of the younger adult mice.
The data suggests that consuming a healthy diet has the potential to reduce age-associated inflammation in the brain, which can result in better cognitive health.
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