Serum Metabolomics Profiling of Commercially Mixed Functional Foods-Effects in Beta-Amyloid Induced Rats Measured Using 1H NMR Spectroscopy

Functional foods such as pomegranate, dates and honey were shown by various previous studies to individually have a neuroprotective effect, especially in neurodegenerative disease such as Alzheimer's disease (AD). In this novel and original study, an H-1 NMR spectroscopy tool was used to identify the metabolic neuroprotective mechanism of commercially mixed functional foods (MFF) consisting of pomegranate, dates and honey, in rats injected with amyloid-beta 1-42 (A beta-42). Forty-five male albino Wistar rats were randomly divided into five groups: NC (0.9% normal saline treatment + phosphate buffer solution (PBS) solution injection), Abeta (0.9% normal saline treatment + 0.2 mu g/mu L A beta-42 injection), MFF (4 mL/kg MFF treatment + PBS solution injection), Abeta-MFF (4 mL/kg MFF treatment + 0.2 mu g/mu L A beta-42 injection) and Abeta-NAC (150 mg/kg N-acetylcysteine + 0.2 mu g/mu L A beta-42 injection). Based on the results, the MFF and NAC treatment improved the spatial memory and learning using Y-maze. In the metabolic analysis, a total of 12 metabolites were identified, for which levels changed significantly among the treatment groups. Systematic metabolic pathway analysis found that the MFF and NAC treatments provided a neuroprotective effect in A beta-42 injected rats by improving the acid amino and energy metabolisms. Overall, this finding showed that MFF might serve as a potential neuroprotective functional food for the prevention of AD.