High salt intake is a significant global health concern due to its association with hypertension and evidence of cognitive and emotional decline, according to a July 31 article. While salt is common in daily diets, long-term overconsumption can negatively affect both the cardiovascular and central nervous systems. This has prompted researchers to seek dietary strategies that could help mitigate these adverse effects.
A team led by Professor Akihiro Mouri and Dr. Hisayoshi Kubota, with contributions from Dr. Kazuhiro Kagotani, investigated how LPC70—a soy lysolecithin rich in lysophosphatidylcholine—regulates prostaglandin signaling to attenuate hypertension and behavioral impairments in a mouse model exposed to high-salt diets. The researchers are affiliated with Fujita Health University Graduate School of Medical Science and Tsuji Oil Mills Co., Ltd.
"We wanted to understand the role of LPC70 in coordinating changes in PG signaling across organ systems," said Mouri. "Our study originated from a collaborative research project with Tsuji Oil Mills Co., Ltd, a company that develops naturally derived food ingredients," he said.
The study found that mice on high-salt diets developed elevated blood pressure along with reduced social interaction and impaired object recognition memory, though their locomotor activity or anxiety-like behavior remained unchanged. Supplementation with LPC70 reduced blood pressure increases and improved social behavior as well as object recognition memory among these mice.
Further analysis revealed that high-salt diets increased expression of cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) and the PGE2 receptor EP3 in the kidney—factors involved in prostaglandin signaling linked to hypertension—but LPC70 supplementation normalized these changes. In the brain's prefrontal cortex, which is associated with cognition and social behavior, high-salt intake reduced expression of the neuroprotective PGD2 receptor DP1; LPC70 restored DP1 levels without affecting DP2 receptors related to neurotoxic signaling.
"Our study elucidates LPC70's role in PG signaling, laying the groundwork for future clinical research and dietary interventions aimed at reducing hypertension-related cognitive decline and promoting healthy aging globally," concluded Mouri.
