Preventive interventional strategies mitigate age-associated degeneration of dorsal hippocampal neural cells in naturally ageing mice

Abstract

The objective of this study was to investigate the effectiveness and potential protective effects of various intervention strategies, such as choline and docosahexaenoic acid (Ch-DHA) supplementation, Clitoria ternatea root extract (CTR) supplements, human embryonic kidney stem cell conditioned media (HEK-CM) treatment and exposure to enriched environments (EEs), in mitigating neural cell degeneration in dorsal hippocampal subregions of naturally ageing mice brain. Twelve–fifteen-month-old CF1 male mice were subdivided (n = 6/group) into normal age-matched control, Ch-DHA supplemented, EE exposed, HEK-CM administered and CTR-supplemented groups. Neuro morphological alterations in the dorsal hippocampus were assessed using cresyl violet staining. Higher neural cell degeneration was observed in the CA1–CA3 dorsal hippocampal subregions in normal ageing mice brains. Notably, interventions such as HEK-CM administration, Ch-DHA supplementation, exposure to an EE and CTR supplementation significantly reduced degeneration, particularly in the CA3 and CA2 regions. Ch-DHA supplementation and HEK-CM treatment are observed to significantly reduce age-dependent degeneration of dorsal hippocampal CA3 and CA2 neurons in naturally ageing mice compared to EE exposure or CTR supplementation.