Project Number: 1950-51000-063-13
Project Type: Trust

Start Date: Oct 01, 2005
End Date: Dec 31, 2008

Objective:
Aim 1: Continue to determine the effects of BB supplementation on behavioral aging using paradigms sensitive to: motor (probes sensitive to balance, strength, coordination) and cognitive (short- and long-term memories) behaviors. Aim 2: Determine the effects of BB supplementation on signaling and neurogenesis and correlate these with alterations in behavioral parameters determined in SA1. Aim 3: Determine the mechanisms involved in the anti-inflammatory/antioxidant activity of BB in cells.

Approach:
After 8 weeks supplementation of 2% (of the blueberry diet), performance will be examined in the rats using age-sensitive motor (e.g., accelerating rotarod) and cognitive (Morris water maze) behaviors. The effects of BB dietary supplementation on neurogenesis proliferation and differentiation will be examined using immunocytochemistry, i.e., bromodeoxyuridine (BrDU) incorporation in hippocampus obtained from the supplemented behaviorally-assessed animals. We will also assess the effects of BB on kainic acid and lipopolysaccharide (LPS) treated BV-2 microglial cells and COS-7 cells will be examined by assessing cell death and calcium clearance. Recently, we have found that several markers of inflammation, including the cytokine, Il-1 beta, the transcription factor, NfkappaB, are both suppressed when the BV-2 cells are pre-treated with BB before being exposed to LPS or kainic acid. We will continue these experiments under the present proposal to determine if the antioxidant/anti-inflammatory properties of BB involve reductions in inflammatory/oxidant signals. We will use imaging, Western blot, and gene array with real-time PCR analyses for these experiments.