Abstract
The claimed beneficial effects of the Mediterranean diet include prevention of several age-related dysfunctions including neurodegenerative diseases and Alzheimer-like pathology. These effects have been related to the protection against cognitive decline associated with aging and disease by a number of polyphenols found in red wine and extra virgin olive oil. The double transgenic TgCRND8 mice (overexpressing the Swedish and Indiana mutations in the human amyloid precursor protein), aged 1.5 and 4, and age-matched wild type control mice were used to examine in vivo the effects of 8 weeks dietary supplementation of oleuropein aglycone (50 mg/kg of diet), the main polyphenol found in extra virgin olive oil. We report here that dietary supplementation of oleuropein aglycone strongly improves the cognitive performance of young/middle-aged TgCRND8 mice, a model of amyloid-ß deposition, respect to age-matched littermates with un-supplemented diet. Immunofluorescence analysis of cerebral tissue in oleuropein aglycone-fed transgenic mice showed remarkably reduced ß-amyloid levels and plaque deposits, which appeared less compact and "fluffy"; moreover, microglia migration to the plaques for phagocytosis and a remarkable reduction of the astrocyte reaction were evident. Finally, oleuropein aglycone-fed mice brain displayed an astonishingly intense autophagic reaction, as shown by the increase of autophagic markers expression and of lysosomal activity. Data obtained with cultured cells confirmed the latter evidence, suggesting mTOR regulation by oleuropein aglycone. Our results support, and provide mechanistic insights into, the beneficial effects against Alzheimer-associated neurodegeneration of a polyphenol enriched in the extra virgin olive oil, a major component of the Mediterranean diet.