Effects Of Complex Of Starch Fatty Acid On Cognitive Impairment In Aging Rats

Aging and its complications are gradually becoming a serious problem in today’s society.How to prevent and delay aging and the cognitive problems it causes have also become the subject of more and more people’s research.Fatty acids are an important part of the human diet,and current research shows that the intake of certain fatty acids can effectively inhibit D-galactose-induced aging and cognitive impairment.Under normal circumstances,most of the fatty acids ingested by the human body are digested and absorbed in the small intestine,and the use of resistant starch and fatty acid complexes can transport the fatty acids to digestive organs such as the colon.The aim of this study was to investigate the physicochemical properties of fatty acids of different chain lengths and different saturations(capric acid,stearic acid,oleic acid)forming complexes with debranched treated waxy maize starch,and to investigate the effect of complex addition to the diet on the improvement of cognitive impairment in aging rats modelled by D-galactose and on the diversity of intestinal flora.In this study,acid hydrolysis,Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy,scanning electron microscopy and X-ray diffraction were used to determine the physicochemical properties of a new complex of fatty acids and starch,including complexation rate,microstructure and crystal structure.The microstructure of the complexes changed significantly,with the starch molecules changing from B-crystals to V-crystals.The data from the water maze experiment showed a decrease in latency of approximately 22.4% in the post-intervention rats compared to the model group.Analysis of serum parameters showed that the intake of the complex significantly reduced MDA and NO levels,increased T-SOD,GSH-Px,T-AOC and CAT levels in the ageing rats,significantly reduced oxidative damage and to some extent also had a preventive effect on liver damage.In addition,scanning electron microscopy showed that the complex repaired D-galactoseinduced damage to colon cells and hippocampal neuronal cells and inhibited tissue lesions to a certain extent.Gas chromatography analysis showed that more short-chain fatty acids(acetic,propionic,butyric and capric acid)were produced in the colon after ingestion of the complex.More importantly,analysis of the intestinal flora structure of the rats showed that the abundance of Akkermiansia,a beneficial bacterium that may be a key point in the treatment of ageing and its complications,was increased approximately 18.7-fold in the intestine of the intervention rats compared to the model rats.In addition,this paper also investigated the effect of the complex on the regulation of gene production in rat liver.The results showed that the peptide metabolism pathway,longevity regulation pathway and carbohydrate and fatty acid metabolism related pathways were significantly down-regulated in the model group rats,and the intake of the complex improved the down-regulated pathways,especially its up-regulation effect on longevity regulation pathway.In conclusion,the present study combined fatty acids with debranched waxy maize starch and used the physicochemical properties of the complex to deliver more fatty acids to the colon,which not only led to the conclusion that the starch-fatty acid complex could stabilize the intestinal environment and increase the abundance of beneficial intestinal bacteria such as Akkermiansia,but also provided a new idea to intervene in aging and cognitive impairment through food supply.