Dietary supplementation with medium-chain TAG has long-lasting cognition-enhancing effects in aged dogs

• Published in: British journal of nutrition Vol. 103; no. 12; pp. 1746 - 1754
• Main Authors: Pan, Yuanlong, Larson, Brian, Araujo, Joseph A., Lau, Winnie, de Rivera, Christina, Santana, Ruben, Gore, Asa, Milgram, Norton W.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Cambridge, UK Cambridge University Press 28.06.2010
• Subjects: 3-Hydroxybutyric Acid - blood; Aging; Alternative energy sources; Animal cognition; Animals; Attention - drug effects; Beagle; Biological and medical sciences; Brain - drug effects; Brain - metabolism; Brain ageing; cognition; Cognition - drug effects; Cognitive ability; Cognitive functions; Dietary Supplements; Dogs; experimental diets; Feeding. Feeding behavior; Female; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Ketone bodies; Ketone Bodies - blood; Ketones; Learning - drug effects; long term effects; Male; medium chain triacylglycerols; Medium-chain TAG; Metabolism and Metabolic Studies; old animals; protective effect; Psychomotor Performance - drug effects; senescence; triacylglycerols; Triglycerides - pharmacology; Vertebrates: anatomy and physiology, studies on body, several organs or systems; Medium-chain TAG; Ketone bodies; Cognitive functions; Brain ageing; Dogs; Ketone body; Fissipedia; Carnivora; Senescence; Long chain; Ageing; Central nervous system; Cognition; Medium chain; Encephalon; Vertebrata; Mammalia; Animal; Supplementation; Dog; Long lasting
• ISSN: 0007-1145; 1475-2662
• DOI: 10.1017/S0007114510000097

The present study focused on the hypothesis that dietary supplementation with medium-chain TAG (MCT) will improve cognitive function in aged dogs by providing the brain with energy in the form of ketones. Aged Beagle dogs were subjected to a baseline battery of cognitive tests, which were used to establish cognitively equivalent control or treatment groups. The dogs in the treatment group were maintained on a diet supplemented with 5·5 % MCT. After an initial wash-in period, all the dogs were tested with a battery of cognitive test protocols, which assessed sequentially landmark discrimination learning ability, egocentric visuospatial function and attention. The groups were maintained on the diets for 8 months. The MCT-supplemented group showed significantly better performance in most of the test protocols than the control group. The group differences also varied as a function of task difficulty, with the more difficult task showing greater supplementation effects than the easier tasks. The group given the MCT supplement showed significantly elevated levels of β-hydroxybutyrate, a ketone body. These results indicate, first, that long-term supplementation with MCT can have cognition-improving effects, and second, that MCT supplementation increases circulating levels of ketones. The results support the hypothesis that brain function of aged dogs can be improved by MCT supplementation, which provides the brain with an alternative energy source.