Extra virgin olive oil, a major component of mediterranean diet protect against cognitive decline, according to results of a study published in the medical journal Annals of clinical and translational neurology. The consumption of extra virgin olive oil is said to protect memory and learning ability and reduce the formation of amyloid-beta plaques in the brain, a classic marker of Alzheimer’s disease.
In order to study the relationship between extra virgin olive oil and dementia, Dr Praticò and his colleagues used a model of genetically modified mice with Alzheimer’s disease.
The researchers divided the animals into two groups, one was given a diet fortified with extra virgin olive oil and the other ate normally. Olive oil was introduced into the diet when the mice were six months old, before symptoms of Alzheimer’s disease began to appear.
In general, there was no difference between the two groups of animals. However, at 9 and 12 months of age, the mice in the “diet enriched with extra virgin olive oil” group improved significantly on tests designed to assess working memory, spatial memory, and learning abilities. .
A new therapeutic voice against Alzheimer’s disease
Studies on brain tissue from the two groups of mice revealed differences in the appearance and function of nerve cells. The integrity of the connections between neurons, known as synapses, has been preserved in the “extra virgin olive oil diet” animals. Their brain cells have shown a dramatic increase in the activation of nerve cell autophagy.
Autophagy is the process by which cells destroy themselves and remove intracellular debris and toxins, such as amyloid plaques and Tau proteins linked to Alzheimer’s disease.
“We have found that olive oil reduces inflammation in the brain but, more importantly, activates a process known as autophagy,” explained lead author Domenico Praticò, professor in the Departments of Pharmacology and Microbiology. and at the LKSOM Center for Translational Medicine.
“This is an exciting discovery for us” explained Dr Praticò. “Thanks to the activation of autophagy, memory and synaptic integrity were preserved and the pathological effects in animals normally destined to develop Alzheimer’s disease were considerably reduced. This is a very important finding,” because we suspect that a reduction in autophagy marks the onset of Alzheimer’s disease“.
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