The dietary polyphenol metabolite protocatechuic acid produces acute and sustained effects on hippocampal electrical activity

Dietary polyphenols and in particular bioavailable metabolites resulting from gut microbiota transformations appear to have beneficial effects in situations of impaired cognition, combatting memory deficits in acute pathological models of neurodegeneration. Modifications to blood flow may underlie the effects of these molecules and although some such metabolites cross the blood-brain barrier, their targets and electrophysiological effects remain unknown. Hence, we explored the systemic and direct effects of protochatechuic acid (PCA) on electrical activity in the hippocampus and cortex of anesthetized female rats, recording evoked and spontaneous high-density field potentials (FPs) to mathematically derive pathway-specific FP generators. We found transient and sustained effects of PCA on evoked activity in the CA1 field, including paradoxical actions on excitatory transmission that depend on the route of administration. Systemic delivery of PCA altered the ongoing activity of some FP generators, albeit with marked inter-animal variation. Interestingly, PCA induced the detachment of infraslow cortico-hippocampal activities over a scale of minutes. These results point to direct actions of polyphenols on cell and network electrical activity, some of which reflect non-specific actions. Thus, dietary-derived polyphenols appear to fulfill neuromodulatory roles, encouraging the search for additional targets to better guide their use in preventing brain pathologies.