In a new study, the nutrient choline was shown to be neuroprotective in mouse models of Alzheimer’s disease (AD). According to the findings, published in Molecular Psychiatry, the benefits appeared to be transgenerational, affecting the offspring of mice who received choline in their diet as infants.
Choline is an essential nutrient, present in foods such as eggs, meat, seafood, milk, and cruciferous vegetables, but also available as a dietary supplement. It is required by all plants animals and plays numerous roles in the body. Long recognized as an important factor in early brain development, pregnant women are advised to maintain choline levels of 550 mg per day.
Choline protects the brain from Alzheimer’s in at least two ways. The first is by reducing levels of homocysteine, an amino acid that can act as a potent neurotoxin contributing to neurodegeneration and the formation of amyloid plaques. The second is by reducing the activation of microglia, which can cause excess inflammation and neuronal cell death if over-activated.
In the current study, researchers from ASU-Banner Neurodegenerative Disease Research Center (NDRC) investigated the effects of choline administered to mice bred to display AD-like symptoms. When these mice received supplemental choline in their diet during pregnancy, their offspring showed significant improvements in spatial memory, as shown by their performance in a water maze. Examination of mouse tissue extracted from the hippocampus confirmed epigenetic alterations induced by choline supplementation. Modified genes associated with microglial activation and reduced levels of homocysteine were observed.
What’s more, improvements were shown to carry over to offspring of mice who received supplemental choline in the womb, even though the offspring themselves had received no supplement. The findings not only establish beneficial effects from nutritional supplementation in successive generations, they also propose epigenetic mechanisms to account for them.
The researchers are hopeful that these findings could offer a potentially safe and easy way to reduce Alzheimer’s risk, but caution that human clinical trials will be necessary to confirm these benefits.
Image: Mice with AD-like symptoms receiving supplemental levels of choline in the womb improved their spatial memory. A second generation bred from these choline-treated mice also showed improved spatial memory, suggesting epigenetic changes in genes. Image courtesy of Shireen Dooling Biodesign Institute at ASU.