Cognitive impairment following high fat diet consumption is associated with brain inflammation

C57Bl/6 truce were administered a high fat, Western diet (WD, 41% fat) or a very high fat lard diet (HFL, 60% fat). and evaluated I'm cognitive ability using the Stone T-maze and for biochemical markers of brain inflammation WD consumption resulted in significantly increased body weight and astrocyte reactivity. but not impaired cognition, microglial reactivity, or heightened cytokine levels. HFL. increased body weight. and impaired cognition. increased brain inflammation. and decreased BDNF. Collectively, these data suggest that while different diet formulations can increase body weight. the ability of high fat diets to disrupt cognition is linked to brain inflammation (C) 2009 Elsevier B V. All rights reserved