title: Acetyl-L-Carnitine: chronic treatment improves spatial acquisition in a new environment in aged rats.
abstract: Chronic Acetyl-L-Carnitine (ALCAR) treatment prevents some age-related memory impairment. The present experiment examined the effects of aging and ALCAR in Fischer 344 rats on retention of spatial discrimination test in a familiar environment (FE), and on the acquisition of a spatial discrimination in a novel environment (NE). Rats 18 months or 3 months old were trained with a new procedure to assess spatial discrimination in the Morris water maze. Performance during acquisition in FE was used to assign each old rat to one of two classes: Good Performers (GP) and Poor Performers (PP) based on their swim time to reach the platform. The old rats displayed heterogeneous performance and a spatial discrimination deficit. Chronic ALCAR treatment enhanced spatial acquisition in the NE of rats with age-related behavioral impairments and had a slight effect on retention of the spatial discrimination in the FE.
authors.affiliation: Institute for Research on Senescence, Sigma Tau, Rome, Italy.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Caprioli
authors.forename: A L
authors.initials: AL
authors.lastname: Markowska
authors.forename: D S
authors.initials: DS
authors.lastname: Olton
mesh_terms: D000108:Acetylcarnitine / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D000375:Aging; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D000818:Animals; D008297:Male; D008568:Memory / Q000187:drug effects*; D051381:Rats; D011916:Rats, Inbred F344; D013028:Space Perception / Q000187:drug effects*; D013550:Swimming
chemical_list: D000108:Acetylcarnitine