Early supplementation of phospholipids and gangliosides affects brain and cognitive development in neonatal piglets.
BACKGROUND
Because human breast milk is a rich source of phospholipids and gangliosides and breastfed infants have improved learning compared with formula-fed infants, the importance of dietary phospholipids and gangliosides for brain development is of interest.


OBJECTIVE
We sought to determine the effects of phospholipids and gangliosides on brain and cognitive development.


METHODS
Male and female piglets from multiple litters were artificially reared and fed formula containing 0% (control), 0.8%, or 2.5% Lacprodan PL-20 (PL-20; Arla Foods Ingredients), a phospholipid/ganglioside supplement, from postnatal day (PD) 2 to PD28. Beginning on PD14, performance in a spatial T-maze task was assessed. At PD28, brain MRI data were acquired and piglets were killed to obtain hippocampal tissue for metabolic profiling.


RESULTS
Diet affected maze performance, with piglets that were fed 0.8% and 2.5% PL-20 making fewer errors than control piglets (80% vs. 75% correct on average; P < 0.05) and taking less time to make a choice (3 vs. 5 s/trial; P < 0.01). Mean brain weight was 5% higher for piglets fed 0.8% and 2.5% PL-20 (P < 0.05) than control piglets, and voxel-based morphometry revealed multiple brain areas with greater volumes and more gray and white matter in piglets fed 0.8% and 2.5% PL-20 than in control piglets. Metabolic profiling of hippocampal tissue revealed that multiple phosphatidylcholine-related metabolites were altered by diet.


CONCLUSION
In summary, dietary phospholipids and gangliosides improved spatial learning and affected brain growth and composition in neonatal piglets.
['Liu|Hongnan|H|', 'Radlowski|Emily C|EC|', 'Conrad|Matthew S|MS|', 'Li|Yao|Y|', 'Dilger|Ryan N|RN|', 'Johnson|Rodney W|RW|']
D000821:Animal Feed D000818:Animals D000831:Animals, Newborn D001921:Brain D003071:Cognition D004032:Diet D019587:Dietary Supplements D005260:Female D005732:Gangliosides D007858:Learning D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging D008297:Male D055432:Metabolomics D010743:Phospholipids D013552:Swine
phospholipid brain cognition piglet 23 ganglioside