Studies on the Regulatory Effects of Food-derived Peptides on the Central Nervous System

(JSNFS Award for Young Investigator (2020))

Abstract

Mental disorders such as depression, anxiety and dementia account for the largest proportion of the five major diseases designated by the Japanese Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare, and the increasing number of patients affected annually is a serious problem. Several peptides produced by the enzymatic digestion of food proteins are known to have physiological effects, and their activities on the central nervous system have recently been reported. In the present study using animal behavioral tests for screening, we identified small peptides effective for modulation of depressive-like behavior, anxiety-like behavior, and cognitive function. Active dipeptide candidates were identified by analyses of structure-activity relationships and biokinetics, and mechanistic analysis revealed their involvement in neurogenesis promotion and monoamine pathway activation. Our findings suggested that food-derived small peptides have strong and orally active neural modulatory effects. Some of the interactions between various molecular species of peptide and the central nervous system were also clarified.