Brain food: Clever eating

Sustainable animal production: exploring the benefits of sperm sexing technologies in addressing critical industry challenges

The sex of the animals is of paramount importance in many animal production systems. This is particularly evident in the production of milk or in breeding programs focused on the production of female animals. In some cases, slaughter or euthanasia of animals of the unwanted sex becomes the only solution, highlighting ethical and economic concerns. As global demand for food continues to rise, the importance of addressing these issues becomes more evident. Reproductive technologies, such as sperm sexing techniques, may hold the key to addressing both animal welfare and the sustainability of animal production. The use of semen enriched with sperm capable of producing offspring of the desired sex can serve as a valuable tool for producers to exert greater control over production outcomes, not only helping to mitigate welfare issues related to the unnecessary premature death of unwanted offspring but also providing a possible ally in the face of stricter animal welfare guidelines. In addition, sexed semen can also contribute to financial gains and reduce greenhouse gas emissions and food waste associated with the less profitable part of the herd. This paper explores the positive impacts that sperm sexing can have on animal welfare, economy, and environment. It also discusses currently available options and strategies for more successful implementation of sexed semen. Partnerships between companies and scientists will be essential to find innovative ways to adapt current production systems and develop sperm sexing technologies that apply to most livestock industries.

Vegetarian diets and diets which restrict animal-source foods during childhood in high-income countries

Increasing numbers of populations in the West are restricting their intake of meat and other animal products for reasons relating to health or ethics; in many countries, these restrictions are already common for cultural, religious, or socio-economic reasons. By following their parent's diet, children are exposed in parallel. This narrative review aims at assessing current data regarding vegetarian diets in children from birth to 18 years of age, which include, by increasing degree of restriction, flexitarian, lacto-ovo-vegetarian, lacto-vegetarian, pescatarian, vegan and macrobiotic diets. The 202 references include 45 studies in children. The more restrictive the diet and the younger the child, the greater the risk of nutritional deficiency. Of particular concern are vitamin B12, iron, zinc, calcium, n-3 long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids, and protein and energy intake, especially in pregnant and nursing women, infants and young children. Providing an adequate lacto-ovo-vegetarian diet is relatively easy, whereas the maintenance of more restrictive diets may be challenging. The benefits and risks of vegetarian diets in adults are relatively well documented, but data for children are scarce. Vegan and macrobiotic diets should be discouraged in pregnant and lactating mothers as well as in young children, who, otherwise, should pay careful attention to ensuring nutritional adequacy, blood testing and appropriate supplementation. The health consequences of a chosen diet should be discussed with parents and adolescents to ensure the best possible adherence to advice and prescriptions. There is a need for well conducted studies in children but also for better knowledge of nutrition in healthcare professionals.Abbreviations: ALA: α-linolenic acid; ARA: arachidonic acid; ASF: animal source foods; BMC: bone mineral content; BMD: bone mineral density; DHA: docosahexaenoic acid; DRV: dietary reference value; EPA: eicosapentaenoic acid; FLD: flexitarian diet; LA: linoleic acid; LC-PUFA: long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids; LOVD: lacto-ovo-vegetarian diet; LVD: lacto-vegetarian diet; MAD: macrobiotic diet; OMD: omnivorous diet; PSF: plant-source foods; SFA: saturated fatty acids; VGD: vegetarian diets; VND: vegan diet.

Processed foods: From their emergence to resilient technologies

Humans need food processing assuring food safety, quality, and functionality to sustain their life. The ongoing debates regarding food processing require rational and scientific data about food processing and processed foods. This study deals with the importance, origins, and history of processing, defining processes and discussing existing food classification systems and provides recommendations for future food process development. Descriptions and comparisons of technologies for food preservation, their resource efficiency, and beneficial aspects in relation to traditional processing are summarized. Possibilities for pretreatments or combination application and related potentials are provided. A consumer-oriented paradigm change is presented using the potential of resilient technologies for food product improvements rather than the traditional adaptation of raw materials to existing processes. Means for food science and technology research toward dietary changes by transparent, gentle, and resource-efficient processes for consumers food preference, acceptance, and needs are provided.

Dietary Tyrosine Intake (FFQ) Is Associated with Locus Coeruleus, Attention and Grey Matter Maintenance: An MRI Structural Study on 398 Healthy Individuals of the Berlin Aging Study-II

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE

It is documented that low protein and amino-acid dietary intake is related to poorer cognitive health and increased risk of dementia. Degradation of the neuromodulatory pathways, (comprising the cholinergic, dopaminergic, serotoninergic and noradrenergic systems) is observed in neurodegenerative diseases and impairs the proper biosynthesis of key neuromodulators from micro-nutrients and amino acids. How these micro-nutrients are linked to neuromodulatory pathways in healthy adults is less studied. The Locus Coeruleus-Noradrenergic System (LC-NA) is the earliest subcortical structure affected in Alzheimer's disease, showing marked neurodegeneration, but is also sensitive for age-related changes. The LC-NA system is critical for supporting attention and cognitive control, functions that are enhanced both by tyrosine administration and chronic tyrosine intake. The purpose of this study was to 1) investigate whether the dietary intake of tyrosine, the key precursor for noradrenaline (NA), is related to LC signal intensity 2) whether LC mediates the reported association between tyrosine intake and higher cognitive performance (measured with Trail Making Test - TMT), and 3) whether LC signal intensity relates to an objective measure of brain maintenance (BrainPAD).

METHODS

The analyses included 398 3T MRIs of healthy participants from the Berlin Aging Study II to investigate the relationship between LC signal intensity and habitual dietary tyrosine intake-daily average (HD-Tyr-IDA - measured with Food Frequency Questionnaire - FFQ). As a control procedure, the same analyses were repeated on other main seeds of the neuromodulators' subcortical system (Dorsal and Medial Raphe, Ventral Tegmental Area and Nucleus Basalis of Meynert). In the same way, the relationships between the five nuclei and BrainPAD were tested.

RESULTS

Results show that HD-Tyr-IDA is positively associated with LC signal intensity. Similarly, LC disproportionally relates to better brain maintenance (BrainPAD). Mediation analyses reveal that only LC, relative to the other nuclei tested, mediates the relationship between HD-Tyr-IDA I and performance in the TMT and between HD-Tyr-IDA and BrainPAD.

CONCLUSIONS

These findings provide the first evidence linking tyrosine intake with LC-NA system signal intensity and its correlation with neuropsychological performance. This study strengthens the role of diet for maintaining brain and cognitive health and supports the noradrenergic theory of cognitive reserve. Within this framework, adequate tyrosine intake might increase the resilience of LC-NA system functioning, by preventing degeneration and supporting noradrenergic metabolism required for LC function and neuropsychological performance.

Animal-source foods as a suitable complementary food for improved physical growth in 6 to 24-month-old children in low- and middle-income countries: a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomised controlled trials

Although animal-source foods are suitable complementary food for child growth in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), their efficacy is still under discussion. This systematic review and meta-analysis was done to investigate the suitability of animal-source foods intake on child physical growth in LMICs. A systematic literature search was done using electronic databases and scanning the reference list of included studies, previous meta-analysis and systematic reviews. Paper selection was based on the PICO (ST) criteria. Papers were selected if based on 6 to 24-month-old children, if they were randomised controlled trials evaluating the effect of complementary animal-based food supplementation of any natural origin, if reporting at least a measure of body size and published after 2000. The PRISMA guidelines for reporting systematic review was followed in the paper selection. Fourteen papers were included in the systematic review and eight were considered for the meta-analysis. Animal-based food supplementation resulted in a higher length-for-age LAZ and weight-for-age (WAZ) Z-scores compared with the control group with random effect size of 0·15 (95 % CI 0·02, 0·27) and 0·20 (95 % CI 0·03, 0·36), respectively. Results were confirmed after influence analyses, and publication bias resulted as negligible. An increased effect on LAZ and WAZ was observed when the food supplementation was based on egg with effect size of 0·31 (95 % CI = -0·03, 0·64) and 0·36 (95 % CI = -0·03, 0·75), respectively. Animal-source foods are a suitable complementary food to improve growth in 6 to 24-month-old children in LMICs.

Animal board invited review: Animal source foods in healthy, sustainable, and ethical diets - An argument against drastic limitation of livestock in the food system

Animal source foods are evolutionarily appropriate foods for humans. It is therefore remarkable that they are now presented by some as unhealthy, unsustainable, and unethical, particularly in the urban West. The benefits of consuming them are nonetheless substantial, as they offer a wide spectrum of nutrients that are needed for cell and tissue development, function, and survival. They play a role in proper physical and cognitive development of infants, children, and adolescents, and help promote maintenance of physical function with ageing. While high-red meat consumption in the West is associated with several forms of chronic disease, these associations remain uncertain in other cultural contexts or when consumption is part of wholesome diets. Besides health concerns, there is also widespread anxiety about the environmental impacts of animal source foods. Although several production methods are detrimental (intensive cropping for feed, overgrazing, deforestation, water pollution, etc.) and require substantial mitigation, damaging impacts are not intrinsic to animal husbandry. When well-managed, livestock farming contributes to ecosystem management and soil health, while delivering high-quality foodstuffs through the upcycling of resources that are otherwise non-suitable for food production, making use of marginal land and inedible materials (forage, by-products, etc.), integrating livestock and crop farming where possible has the potential to benefit plant food production through enhanced nutrient recycling, while minimising external input needs such as fertilisers and pesticides. Moreover, the impacts on land use, water wastage, and greenhouse gas emissions are highly contextual, and their estimation is often erroneous due to a reductionist use of metrics. Similarly, whether animal husbandry is ethical or not depends on practical specificities, not on the fact that animals are involved. Such discussions also need to factor in that animal husbandry plays an important role in culture, societal well-being, food security, and the provision of livelihoods. We seize this opportunity to argue for less preconceived assumptions about alleged effects of animal source foods on the health of the planet and the humans and animals involved, for less top-down planning based on isolated metrics or (Western) technocratic perspectives, and for more holistic and circumstantial approaches to the food system.

Eicosapentaenoic Acid-Induced Autophagy Attenuates Intervertebral Disc Degeneration by Suppressing Endoplasmic Reticulum Stress, Extracellular Matrix Degradation, and Apoptosis

Intervertebral disc degeneration (IDD) is a major cause of low back pain (LBP), but there is still a lack of effective therapy. Multiple studies have reported that endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress and extracellular matrix (ECM) degradation exert an enormous function on the occurrence and development of IDD. Autophagy can effectively repair ER stress and maintain ECM homeostasis. Eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) can specifically induce autophagy. The purpose of this study is to demonstrate that EPA can promote autophagy, reduce ECM degradation and ER stress in vitro, thereby reducing cell apoptosis, and the protective effects of EPA in an IDD-rat model in vivo. Western blot and immunofluorescence were used to detect the autophagic flux, ER stress, ECM degradation, and apoptosis in nucleus pulposus cells (NPCs) treated by EPA. We also used puncture-induced IDD rats as experimental subjects to observe the therapeutic effect of EPA on IDD. Our findings indicated that EPA can effectively improve the autophagy activity in NPCs, inhibit the endoplasmic reticulum stress process, reduce the degree of cell apoptosis, and exert protective effects on the anabolism and catabolism of ECM. In addition, in vivo investigations demonstrated that EPA ameliorated the progression of puncture-induced IDD in rats. In conclusion, this study revealed the intrinsic mechanisms of EPA's protective role in NPCs and its potential therapeutic significance for the treatment of IDD.

Tapping Into the Environmental Co-benefits of Improved Tropical Forages for an Agroecological Transformation of Livestock Production Systems

Livestock are critical for incomes, livelihoods, nutrition and ecosystems management throughout the global South. Livestock production and the consumption of livestock-based foods such as meat, cheese, and milk is, however, under global scrutiny for its contribution to global warming, deforestation, biodiversity loss, water use, pollution, and land/soil degradation. This paper argues that, although the environmental footprint of livestock production presents a real threat to planetary sustainability, also in the global south, this is highly contextual. Under certain context-specific management regimes livestock can deliver multiple benefits for people and planet. We provide evidence that a move toward sustainable intensification of livestock production is possible and could mitigate negative environmental impacts and even provide critical ecosystem services, such as improved soil health, carbon sequestration, and enhanced biodiversity on farms. The use of cultivated forages, many improved through selection or breeding and including grasses, legumes and trees, in integrated crop-tree-livestock systems is proposed as a stepping stone toward agroecological transformation. We introduce cultivated forages, explain their multi-functionality and provide an overview of where and to what extent the forages have been applied and how this has benefited people and the planet alike. We then examine their potential to contribute to the 13 principles of agroecology and find that integrating cultivated forages in mixed crop-tree-livestock systems follows a wide range of agroecological principles and increases the sustainability of livestock production across the globe. More research is, however, needed at the food system scale to fully understand the role of forages in the sociological and process aspects of agroecology. We make the case for further genetic improvement of cultivated forages and strong multi-disciplinary systems research to strengthen our understanding of the multidimensional impacts of forages and for managing agro-environmental trade-offs. We finish with a call for action, for the agroecological and livestock research and development communities to improve communication and join hands for a sustainable agri-food system transformation.

Health-Promoting Phytonutrients Are Higher in Grass-Fed Meat and Milk

While commission reports and nutritional guidelines raise concerns about the effects of consuming red meat on human health, the impacts of how livestock are raised and finished on consumer health are generally ignored. Meat and milk, irrespective of rearing practices, provide many essential nutrients including bioavailable protein, zinc, iron, selenium, calcium, and/or B12. Emerging data indicate that when livestock are eating a diverse array of plants on pasture, additional health-promoting phytonutrients—terpenoids, phenols, carotenoids, and anti-oxidants—become concentrated in their meat and milk. Several phytochemicals found in grass-fed meat and milk are in quantities comparable to those found in plant foods known to have anti-inflammatory, anti-carcinogenic, and cardioprotective effects. As meat and milk are often not considered as sources of phytochemicals, their presence has remained largely underappreciated in discussions of nutritional differences between feedlot-fed (grain-fed) and pasture-finished (grass-fed) meat and dairy, which have predominantly centered around the ω-3 fatty acids and conjugated linoleic acid. Grazing livestock on plant-species diverse pastures concentrates a wider variety and higher amounts of phytochemicals in meat and milk compared to grazing monoculture pastures, while phytochemicals are further reduced or absent in meat and milk of grain-fed animals. The co-evolution of plants and herbivores has led to plants/crops being more productive when grazed in accordance with agroecological principles. The increased phytochemical richness of productive vegetation has potential to improve the health of animals and upscale these nutrients to also benefit human health. Several studies have found increased anti-oxidant activity in meat and milk of grass-fed vs. grain-fed animals. Only a handful of studies have investigated the effects of grass-fed meat and dairy consumption on human health and show potential for anti-inflammatory effects and improved lipoprotein profiles. However, current knowledge does not allow for direct linking of livestock production practices to human health. Future research should systematically assess linkages between the phytochemical richness of livestock diets, the nutrient density of animal foods, and subsequent effects on human metabolic health. This is important given current societal concerns about red meat consumption and human health. Addressing this research gap will require greater collaborative efforts from the fields of agriculture and medicine.

Children and adults should avoid consuming animal products to reduce risk for chronic disease: NO

Excessive attention to the animal versus plant binary food choice reflects society's moral views on eating right. To claim that avoidance of animal products is required to prevent chronic disease is not supported by evidence, makes little sense from an evolutionary perspective, and distracts policy makers from common-sense approaches to achieve adequate nutrition. Animal products provide highly bioavailable nutrients, some of which are not easily obtained from plants, and can play a key role in meeting the nutritional challenges of populations in both high- and low-income countries. This role goes beyond the need for protein and relates to vitamins, minerals, and numerous often-overlooked nutrients, such as long-chain fatty acids, taurine, and choline. Restrictive dietary prescriptions that exclude animal products complicate the quest for optimal nutrition by undermining dietary diversity and flexibility, and by introducing a dependency on fortification and supplementation. Thus, a vegan diet may put the general population at increased risk of poor nutrition, a problem of particular concern for those with special nutritional requirements.

Meat as a Pharmakon: An Exploration of the Biosocial Complexities of Meat Consumption

In contemporary dietary advice, meat is depicted as a pharmakon: it is believed to either heal or poison the human body (and mind). Often, it also serves as a scapegoat for a wide range of public health issues and other societal problems. Related attitudes, practices, and beliefs pertain to a demarcated mode of thinking or episteme that is characteristic for the so-called post-domestic or industrialized societies. The latter are not only typified by an abundant yet largely concealed production of meat, but increasingly also by moral crisis and confusion about its nutritional meaning. For an improved appreciation of the ambiguous position of meat in human health and disease, as well as the concomitant scattering into different subject positions (e.g., the omnivore, flexitarian, vegetarian, vegan, permaculturalist, and carnivore position), an interdisciplinary approach is required. To this end, the current study tentatively combines food research with a selection of (post-structuralist) concepts from the humanities. The aim is to outline a historical and biosocial need for meat (as well as its rejection) and to analyze how its transformative effects have contributed to a polarized discourse on diet and well-being in academia and society at large. Excessive categorization (for instance with respect to meat's alleged naturalness, normalness, necessity, and niceness) and Manichean thinking in binary opposites are among the key factors that lead to impassioned yet often sterile debates between the advocates and adversaries of meat eating in a post-truth context.

Global Provisioning of Red Meat for Flexitarian Diets

Although not always labeled as such, flexitarianism is the default lifestyle for much of the world, whereby meals based on plant materials provide the bulk of people's calories. The rich nutrition of meat and animal products is often the lynchpin of these diets, even when only consumed occasionally. It provides forms and concentrations of essential proteins, lipids, and micronutrients that are otherwise scarce. However, the production of this meat is resource intensive. It requires large quantities of arable land and water, and typically has lower conversion efficiency of farm inputs to edible outputs compared with crops, poultry, aquaculture, dairy, and eggs. An additional complication is that the quantity of ancillary products produced during slaughterhouse operations is large and underutilized. Each year, approximately 190 million metric tons (MMT) of red meat, including pork, lamb, sheep, veal, beef, and goats are produced globally, half of which will be consumed by less than 25% of the population living in developed countries. With demand for meat expected to exceed 376 MMT by 2030, an increase in the adoption of plant-based diets presents an opportunity for the world to re-evaluate how meat can be sustainably produced, with greater emphasis on animal welfare, nutritional value, product safety, better utilization, and distribution channels. In this article we consider the role meat plays in the modern diet, its production and consumption, opportunities to improve utilization of the animal, the benefits of incorporating a diverse range of red meat into diets, and the strategies that the meat industry should consider in response to flexitarianism.

Poor cognitive ageing: Vulnerabilities, mechanisms and the impact of nutritional interventions

BACKGROUND

Ageing is a highly complex process marked by a temporal cascade of events, which promote alterations in the normal functioning of an individual organism. The triggers of normal brain ageing are not well understood, even less so the factors which initiate and steer the neuronal degeneration, which underpin disorders such as dementia. A wealth of data on how nutrients and diets may support cognitive function and preserve brain health are available, yet the molecular mechanisms underlying their biological action in both normal ageing, age-related cognitive decline, and in the development of neurodegenerative disorders have not been clearly elucidated.

OBJECTIVES

This review aims to summarise the current state of knowledge of vulnerabilities that predispose towards dysfunctional brain ageing, highlight potential protective mechanisms, and discuss dietary interventions that may be used as therapies. A special focus of this paper is on the impact of nutrition on neuroprotection and the underlying molecular mechanisms, and this focus reflects the discussions held during the 2nd workshop 'Nutrition for the Ageing Brain: Functional Aspects and Mechanisms' in Copenhagen in June 2016. The present review is the most recent in a series produced by the Nutrition and Mental Performance Task Force under the auspice of the International Life Sciences Institute Europe (ILSI Europe).

CONCLUSION

Coupling studies of cognitive ageing with studies investigating the effect of nutrition and dietary interventions as strategies targeting specific mechanisms, such as neurogenesis, protein clearance, inflammation, and non-coding and microRNAs is of high value. Future research on the impact of nutrition on cognitive ageing will need to adopt a longitudinal approach and multimodal nutritional interventions will likely need to be imposed in early-life to observe significant impact in older age.

Serum ω-3 Polyunsaturated Fatty Acids and Potential Influence Factors in Elderly Patients with Multiple Cardiovascular Risk Factors

Recent clinical trials failed to demonstrate that ω-3 polyunsaturated fatty acid (PUFA) supplement reduced cardiovascular events, which contradicted previous evidence. However, serum ω-3 PUFA concentrations of participants remained unclear in those studies. We aimed to investigate the definite relationship between serum concentrations of ω-3 PUFAs and coronary artery disease (CAD), and to explore the potential influence factors of ω-3 PUFAs. We selected Chinese in-patients (n = 460) with multiple cardiovascular risk factors or an established diagnosis of CAD. Serum ω-3 PUFAs, including eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA), were measured by liquid chromatography mass spectrometry. Serum concentrations of ω-3 PUFAs in CAD patients were lower than that in patients with cardiovascular risk factors. Furthermore, high serum DHA concentration was an independent protective factor of CAD after adjustment for confounding factors (OR: 0.52, p = 0.014). Alcohol intake (p = 0.036) and proton pump inhibitor (PPI) usage (p = 0.027) were associated with a decreased serum ω-3 PUFA concentration. We conclude that serum concentrations of ω-3 PUFAs may associate with a decreased CAD proportion, and DHA may serve as a protective factor of CAD. Serum ω-3 PUFA concentrations may be reduced by alcohol intake and certain drugs like PPIs.

Iron-Restricted Diet Affects Brain Ferritin Levels, Dopamine Metabolism and Cellular Prion Protein in a Region-Specific Manner

Iron is an essential micronutrient for several physiological functions, including the regulation of dopaminergic neurotransmission. On the other hand, both iron, and dopamine can affect the folding and aggregation of proteins related with neurodegenerative diseases, such as cellular prion protein (PrP^C) and α-synuclein, suggesting that deregulation of iron homeostasis and the consequential disturbance of dopamine metabolism can be a risk factor for conformational diseases. These proteins, in turn, are known to participate in the regulation of iron and dopamine metabolism. In this study, we evaluated the effects of dietary iron restriction on brain ferritin levels, dopamine metabolism, and the expression levels of PrP^C and α-synuclein. To achieve this goal, C57BL/6 mice were fed with iron restricted diet (IR) or with normal diet (CTL) for 1 month. IR reduced iron and ferritin levels in liver. Ferritin reduction was also observed in the hippocampus. However, in the striatum of IR group, ferritin level was increased, suggesting that under iron-deficient condition, each brain area might acquire distinct capacity to store iron. Increased lipid peroxidation was observed only in hippocampus of IR group, where ferritin level was reduced. IR also generated discrete results regarding dopamine metabolism of distinct brain regions: in striatum, the level of dopamine metabolites (DOPAC and HVA) was reduced; in prefrontal cortex, only HVA was increased along with the enhanced MAO-A activity; in hippocampus, no alterations were observed. PrP^C levels were increased only in the striatum of IR group, where ferritin level was also increased. PrP^C is known to play roles in iron uptake. Thus, the increase of PrP^C in striatum of IR group might be related to the increased ferritin level. α-synuclein was not altered in any regions. Abnormal accumulation of ferritin, increased MAO-A activity or lipid peroxidation are molecular features observed in several neurological disorders. Our findings show that nutritional iron deficiency produces these molecular alterations in a region-specific manner and provide new insight into the variety of molecular pathways that can lead to distinct neurological symptoms upon iron deficiency. Thus, adequate iron supplementation is essential for brain health and prevention of neurological diseases.

Delayed Docosahexaenoic Acid Treatment Combined with Dietary Supplementation of Omega-3 Fatty Acids Promotes Long-Term Neurovascular Restoration After Ischemic Stroke

Prophylactic dietary intake of omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (n-3 PUFAs) has been shown to remarkably ameliorate ischemic brain injury. However, the therapeutic efficacy of n-3 PUFA administration post-stroke, especially its impact on neurovascular remodeling and long-term neurological recovery, has not been fully characterized thus far. In this study, we investigated the effect of n-3 PUFA supplementation, as well as in combination with docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) injections, on long-term stroke outcomes. Mice were subjected to transient middle cerebral artery occlusion (MCAO) before randomly assigned to four groups to receive the following: (1) low dose of n-3 PUFAs as the vehicle control, (2) intraperitoneal DHA injections, (3) n-3 PUFA dietary supplement, or (4) combined treatment of (2) and (3). Neurological deficits and brain atrophy, neurogenesis, angiogenesis, and glial scar formation were assessed up to 28 days after MCAO. Results revealed that groups 2 and 3 showed only marginal reduction in post-stroke tissue loss and attenuation of cognitive deficits. Interestingly, group 4 exhibited significantly reduced tissue atrophy and improved cognitive functions compared to groups 2 and 3 with just a single treatment. Mechanistically, the combined treatment promoted post-stroke neurogenesis and angiogenesis, as well as reduced glial scar formation, all of which significantly correlated with the improved spatial memory in the Morris water maze. These results demonstrate an effective therapeutic regimen to enhance neurovascular restoration and long-term cognitive recovery in the mouse model of MCAO. Combined post-stroke DHA treatment and n-3 PUFA dietary supplementation thus may be a potential clinically translatable therapy for stroke or related brain disorders.