title: Increased nerve growth factor by zinc supplementation with concurrent vitamin A deficiency does not improve memory performance in mice.
abstract: We investigated the effects of dietary supplementation of zinc (Zn) with or without vitamin A (Vit. A), to elucidate any cross activity between the two micronutrients, on memory and nerve growth factor (NGF) production in ddY male mice depleted for the two elements. After 3 mo-feeding with a Zn and Vit. A deficient (VAD) diet, mice were divided into three groups and replenished with normal Zn with VAD diet (NZ-VAD), high Zn with VAD diet (HZ-VAD) or normal Zn + normal Vit. A (NZ-NVA) for additional 2 mo. One more group was made and given the normal diet for the same period (Control group). Levels of NGF were measured from extracts of hippocampus, cerebellum and cortex at the end of the 3rd and 5th month. In addition, a radial arm maze task was performed at the end of the 5th month. The two Zn supplemented groups (NZ-VAD and HZ-VAD) tended to show high NGF concentration but memory was not improved. However, improved memory was observed in the NZ-NVA group. From these results we concluded that Zn may increase NGF; however, memory was improved only when Vit. A was sufficient.
authors.affiliation: Department of International Public Health Nutrition, Institute of Health Biosciences, The University of Tokushima Graduate School, Tokushima 770-8503, Japan.
authors.forename: Sorayya
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kheirvari
authors.forename: Kayoko
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Uezu
authors.forename: Tohru
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Sakai
authors.forename: Masayo
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Nakamori
authors.forename: Mohammad
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Alizadeh
authors.forename: Nobuko
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Sarukura
authors.forename: Shigeru
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Yamamoto
mesh_terms: D000704:Analysis of Variance; D000818:Animals; D001921:Brain / Q000187:drug effects / Q000378:metabolism; D019587:Dietary Supplements; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay / Q000379:methods; D008297:Male; D018782:Maze Learning / Q000187:drug effects; D008568:Memory / Q000187:drug effects*; D051379:Mice; D020932:Nerve Growth Factor / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000378:metabolism; D013647:Task Performance and Analysis; D014801:Vitamin A / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000097:blood / Q000494:pharmacology; D014802:Vitamin A Deficiency / Q000150:complications*; D015032:Zinc / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000097:blood / Q000494:pharmacology*
chemical_list: D014801:Vitamin A; D020932:Nerve Growth Factor; D015032:Zinc