title: Chronic phosphatidylserine treatment improves spatial memory and passive avoidance in aged rats.
abstract: Learning/memory deficits in senescent animals are widely used as a tool to evaluate the therapeutic potential of agents for treatment of age-associated cognitive dysfunction. As assessed in the Morris water maze test, aged (21-24 months) rats showed a variable loss of spatial memory. Aged non-impaired rats performed as well as young subjects, while aged impaired rats exhibited a severe and persistent place-navigation deficit. Passive avoidance retention was similarly affected in the two aged subpopulations. Chronic oral administration of phosphatidylserine (50 mg/kg/day for up to 12 weeks), a pharmacologically active phospholipid, was found to improve both the spatial memory and the passive avoidance retention of aged impaired rats. Results are discussed with reference to the phosphatidylserine-induced improvement of age-associated deterioration of brain functions in rats.
authors.affiliation: Fidia Research Laboratories, Abano Terme, Italy.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Zanotti
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Valzelli
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Toffano
mesh_terms: D000375:Aging / Q000502:physiology*; D000818:Animals; D001362:Avoidance Learning / Q000187:drug effects*; D002540:Cerebral Cortex / Q000187:drug effects / Q000378:metabolism; D007858:Learning / Q000187:drug effects; D008297:Male; D008568:Memory / Q000187:drug effects*; D009042:Motivation; D010718:Phosphatidylserines / Q000378:metabolism / Q000494:pharmacology*; D051381:Rats; D011919:Rats, Inbred Strains; D013028:Space Perception / Q000187:drug effects*
chemical_list: D010718:Phosphatidylserines