Study finds 'Western diet' detrimental to fetal hippocampal tissue transplants

http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-04-western-diet-detrimental-fetal-hippocampal.html

Researchers interested in determining the direct effects of a high saturated fat and high cholesterol (HFHC) diet on implanted fetal hippocampal tissues have found that in middle-aged laboratory rats the HFHC diet elevated microglial activation and reduced neuronal development. While the resulting damage was due to an inflammatory response in the central nervous system, they found that the effects of the HFHC diet were alleviated by the interleukin (IL)-1 receptor antagonist IL-1Ra, leading them to conclude that IL-Ra has potential use in neurological disorders involving neuroinflammation.