Medium chain triglyceride diet reduces anxiety-like behaviors and enhances social competitiveness in rats

摘要: Medium-chain triglycerides (MCT) are emerging as unique dietary supplements that potentially relevant for the amelioration of brain dysfunctions. MCT converted into ketones and free medium chain fatty acids that, in brain, highly effective energy sources to mitochondria less harmful than glucose metabolism neurons. Given recently established link between mitochondrial dysfunction high anxiety depression, we performed this study investigate effectiveness an MCT-enriched diet ameliorate anxiety- depression-related behaviors rats. Male rats were distributed groups, according their anxiety-like elevated plus maze. Each group was given either MCT-supplemented or isocaloric control fifteen days. Starting from eighth day diet, exposed different behavioral tests. MCT-fed exhibited reduced enhanced social competitiveness, while coping responses forced swim test not affected by treatment. When evaluated at end two-week respiration medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) unchanged nucleus accumbens. In mPFC, enzymes related glycolysis oxidative phosphorylation also decreased proteins controlling glutamate transport increased. Altogether, our findings strongly suggest exert anxiolytic effects. results point mPFC a region which supplementation improves substrates.