The use of rapeseed oil in food leads to disturbances in the brain. 
Photo Global Look Press.

A team from the Lewis Katz School of Medicine at Temple University (USA)reported that the use of vegetable oil from rapeseed (also known as canola ) is associated with memory impairment and learning ability, as well as weight gain.Experiments in mice have shown that these disorders, in turn, can be harbingers of Alzheimer's disease.

Rapeseed oil is a very common product and has been known since antiquity.True, it used to be used for lighting and lubricating parts. Because of the specific taste that persisted even after refining, such oil was not used for food. Only in the second half of the 20th century the producers introduced new varieties of rapeseed, the seeds of which proved to be suitable for the production of oil. It received the name of canola (this is the abbreviation from English CANadian Oil, Low Acid, that is, "Canadian oil of reduced acidity").

Producers say that rapeseed oil reduces the risk of developing cardiovascular diseases. However, due to the fact that the product appeared on the market relatively recently, experts have not yet had time to study all the effects of its use.Moreover, the new work connects the use of rapeseed oil for the first time with negative consequences for the brain.

"Canola oil is attractive because it is cheaper than other vegetable oils, and it is touted as a healthy product, however, very few studies support this, especially when it comes to benefits for the brain.", - says the lead author of the latest work of Professor Domenico Pratiko ( Domenico Pratico ).

Together with colleagues, he studied how this product affects the changes occurring in the brain and are characteristic of Alzheimer's disease. This, we recall, the formation of amyloid plaques and neurofibrillary tangles of tau proteins .

Clusters, in which proteins adhere, disrupt the function of neurons and accelerate degenerative processes, which ultimately leads to a deterioration in cognitive functions and a disruption or even loss of memory.

In mice, Alzheimer's disease develops in much the same way as in humans (from the asymptomatic phase to the large-scale disorders in the "elderly" age), and therefore they are used as model organisms for the study of this disease.

Previously, the Pratico team with the help of rodents proved that olive oilprotects the brain from Alzheimer's disease . Now scientists decided to conduct a similar study with rapeseed oil.

The researchers created a line of transgenic mice with Alzheimer's disease and began experiments when the animals were six months old (the first signs of the disease had not yet appeared). Rodents were divided into two groups. The first (control) was put on an ordinary diet, and the second (experimental) group received food with canola (two tablespoons of oil a day).

Six months later, the experts noticed the first differences: the mice from the second group gained weight faster.

Then the animals were sent to labyrinths - this is a standard test for assessing working and short-term memory, as well as learning abilities. Also, experts conducted two more tests to assess cognitive abilities and the level of thinking of mice. There was a second difference: the rodents from the control group coped successfully with the tests, but their relatives after the "rapeseed" diet began to suffer from memory and cognitive impairment.

Finally, the researchers studied the brain tissue of animals, and it turned out that in mice from the experimental group, the level of β-amyloids 1-40 is much lower.These are peptides consisting of approximately 40 amino acid residues, their soluble form (Aβ40). They are important for the proper functioning of the brain, since they serve as a kind of buffer for the more harmful, insoluble form - beta-amyloid 1-42 (Aβ42).

When the level of amyloid beta 1-40 in mice from the second group decreased, plaques from amaloid beta 1-42 began to form in their brains. These amyloid plaques gradually expand and in fact "throttle" the neurons. As a result, brain cells can not contact each other, that is, a synapse trauma occurs, a region that plays a major role in memory formation, the authors explain.

"Beta-amyloids 1-40 neutralize the effect of beta-amyloids 1-42, which means that reduction of the first proteins gives the freedom of action second.In our model, this change in the ratio led to significant neuronal damage, decreased nerve contact and memory impairment," - says Pratico.

According to him, prolonged use of oil is key to reducing the "healthy" proteins for the brain.

Now the team plans to conduct several more short-term experiments to find out at which point the negative impact of the product on the brain begins. In addition, it is necessary to find out whether consumption of rapeseed oil is associated with some other neurodegenerative diseases and forms of dementia.

The results of the current study are presented in a scientific article published in the journal Nature.

Recall also that the risk of developing Alzheimer's and other disorders in the brain can reduce physical education in childhood , as well as some computer games  and the use of grapes .