title: Dietary cytidine (5')-diphosphocholine supplementation protects against development of memory deficits in aging rats.
abstract: The present study was designed to assess the effect of supplementation with dietary cytidine (5')-diphosphocholine (CDP-choline), a source of cytidine and choline, on memory in young and older rats. Although the hippocampal-dependent memory deficits in aged rats are well documented, cognitive functioning in early aging has not been as thoroughly evaluated. Female Sprague-Dawley rats (3 or 15 months of age) consumed either a control diet or a diet supplemented with CDP-choline (approximately 500 mg/kg/day) for 8 weeks, after which they were trained to perform spatial and cued versions of the Morris water maze. Compared with young rats, aged rats exhibited a selective deficit in spatial memory tasks that required rats to retain information for 24 h or longer. CDP-choline supplementation protected against the development of this deficit, but had no memory-enhancing effect in normal young rats. These findings suggest that early-aged rats display a selective impairment in hippocampal-dependent long-term memory, and that dietary CDP-choline supplementation can protect against this deficit.
authors.affiliation: Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 45 Carleton Street, E25-604, Cambridge, MA, USA. Iteather@mit.edu
authors.forename: Lisa A
authors.initials: LA
authors.lastname: Teather
authors.forename: Richard J
authors.initials: RJ
authors.lastname: Wurtman
mesh_terms: D000284:Administration, Oral; D000375:Aging / Q000523:psychology*; D000818:Animals; D003566:Cytidine Diphosphate Choline / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000494:pharmacology*; D004032:Diet; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D005260:Female; D006624:Hippocampus / Q000473:pathology*; D008569:Memory Disorders / Q000209:etiology / Q000517:prevention & control*; D018697:Nootropic Agents / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000494:pharmacology*; D051381:Rats; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley
chemical_list: D018697:Nootropic Agents; D003566:Cytidine Diphosphate Choline