title: Dietary acetyl-L-carnitine improves spatial behaviour of old rats.
abstract: Acetyl-L-carnitine was given to aging rats to determine the extent to which it changed age-related impairments in several different behaviours. One group of rats was given acetyl-L-carnitine, 80 mg/day, beginning at 16 months of age. A second group of rats was housed and treated identically, except that no drug was administered. At 22 months of age, both groups of rats began a series of behavioural tests, along with a group of young rats, four months of age. The tests included: place learning on a circular platform, probe reversal of place learning on a circular platform, two choice simultaneous spatial discrimination in the stem of a T-maze spatial alternation in the arms of a T-maze, and sensory-motor behaviour (initiation of walking, turning in an alley, walking on a square, round, and rectangular bridge, turning on an inclined grid, holding on to a wire, light-dark preference). The tasks varied in their sensitivity to age-related impairments. These data indicate that long-term therapy with acetyl-L-carnitine attenuates certain age-related cognitive deficits and may have a beneficial effect on longevity.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland.
authors.forename: A L
authors.initials: AL
authors.lastname: Markowska
authors.forename: D S
authors.initials: DS
authors.lastname: Olton
mesh_terms: D000108:Acetylcarnitine / Q000494:pharmacology*; D000818:Animals; D001522:Behavior, Animal / Q000187:drug effects*; D002331:Carnitine / Q000031:analogs & derivatives*; D004032:Diet; D008297:Male; D008568:Memory / Q000187:drug effects; D051381:Rats; D011916:Rats, Inbred F344; D013028:Space Perception / Q000187:drug effects*
chemical_list: D000108:Acetylcarnitine; D002331:Carnitine