Supplementation with complex milk lipids during brain development promotes neuroplasticity without altering myelination or vascular density.

Background: Supplementation with complex milk lipids (CML) during postnatal brain development has been shown to improve spatial reference learning in rats.

Objective: The current study examined histo-biological changes in the brain following CML supplementation and their relationship to the observed improvements in memory.

Design: The study used the brain tissues from the rats (male Wistar, 80 days of age) after supplementing with either CML or vehicle during postnatal day 10-80. Immunohistochemical staining of synaptophysin, glutamate receptor-1, myelin basic protein, isolectin B-4, and glial fibrillary acidic protein was performed. The average area and the density of the staining and the numbers of astrocytes and capillaries were assessed and analysed.

Results: Compared with control rats, CML supplementation increased the average area of synaptophysin staining and the number of GFAP astrocytes in the CA3 sub-region of the hippocampus (p<0.01), but not in the CA4 sub-region. The supplementation also led to an increase in dopamine output in the striatum that was related to nigral dopamine expression (p<0.05), but did not alter glutamate receptors, myelination or vascular density.

Conclusion: CML supplementation may enhance neuroplasticity in the CA3 sub-regions of the hippocampus. The brain regions-specific increase of astrocyte may indicate a supporting role for GFAP in synaptic plasticity. CML supplementation did not associate with postnatal white matter development or vascular remodelling.