Vitamin D2-Enriched Button Mushroom (Agaricus bisporus) Improves Memory in Both Wild Type and APPswe/PS1dE9 Transgenic Mice

Louise Bennett, Cindy Kersaitis, Stuart Lance Macaulay, Gerald Münch, Garry Niedermayer, Julie Nigro, Matthew Payne, Paul Sheean, Pascal Vallotton, Dimitrios Zabaras, Michael Bird

    Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

    60 Citations (Scopus)

    Abstract

    Vitamin D deficiency is widespread, affecting over 30% of adult Australians, and increasing up to 80% for at-risk groups including the elderly (age>65). The role for Vitamin D in development of the central nervous system is supported by the association between Vitamin D deficiency and incidence of neurological and psychiatric disorders including Alzheimer's disease (AD). A reported positive relationship between Vitamin D status and cognitive performance suggests that restoring Vitamin D status might provide a cognitive benefit to those with Vitamin D deficiency. Mushrooms are a rich source of ergosterol, which can be converted to Vitamin D2 by treatment with UV light, presenting a new and convenient dietary source of Vitamin D2. We hypothesised that Vitamin D2-enriched mushrooms (VDM) could prevent the cognitive and pathological abnormalities associated with dementia. Two month old wild type (B6C3) and AD transgenic (APPSwe/PS1dE9) mice were fed a diet either deficient in Vitamin D2 or a diet which was supplemented with VDM, containing 1±0.2 μg/kg (∼54 IU/kg) vitamin D2, for 7 months. Effects of the dietary intervention on memory were assessed pre- and post-feeding. Brain sections were evaluated for amyloid β (Aβ) plaque loads and inflammation biomarkers using immuno-histochemical methods. Plasma vitamin D metabolites, Aβ40, Aβ42, calcium, protein and cholesterol were measured using biochemical assays. Compared with mice on the control diet, VDM-fed wild type and AD transgenic mice displayed improved learning and memory, had significantly reduced amyloid plaque load and glial fibrillary acidic protein, and elevated interleukin-10 in the brain. The results suggest that VDM might provide a dietary source of Vitamin D2 and other bioactives for preventing memory-impairment in dementia. This study supports the need for a randomised clinical trial to determine whether or not VDM consumption can benefit cognitive performance in the wider population.
    Original languageEnglish
    Article numbere76362
    Number of pages17
    JournalPLoS One
    Volume8
    Issue number10
    DOIs
    Publication statusPublished - 2013

    Open Access - Access Right Statement

    Copyright: 2013 Bennett et al. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.

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