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Administration of
Phosphatidylcholine Increases Brain Acetylcholine Concentration and
Improves Memory in Mice with Dementia
Shu-Ying Chung,
Tomoe Moriyama, Eiko Uezu, Kayoko
Uezu, Rieko Hirata, Noriko Yohena,
Yasunobu Masuda, Yoyohiko Kokubu
andShigeru Yamamoto
Department of Nutrition and Research Center of Comprehensive
Medicine College of Education, University of the Ryukyus,
Nishihara, Okinawa, 903-01 Japan Research Institute, Q. P.
Corporation, Sumiyoshi, Fuchu, 183 Tokyo, Japan
Studies on the effect of phosphatidylcholine
administration on memory are limited. We administered egg
phosphatidylcholine to mice with dementia and to normal
mice and compared the differences in memory and serum
choline concentration, and choline and acetylcholine
concentrations and choline acetyltransferase activities of three
forebrain regions (cortex, hippocampus and the remaining
forebrain). Mice with dementia were produced by mating
sibling mice who had impaired memory for >20 generations.
These mice had poor memory and low brain acetylcholine
concentration. We administered 100 mg of egg
phosphatidylcholine (phosphatidylcholine group) or water
(control group) by gavage to each mouse daily for about
45 d. Control mice with dementia had poorer memory in passive
avoidance performance and lower brain choline (cortex and
hippocampus) and acetylcholine (hippocampus and forebrain
excluding cortex and hippocampus) concentrations and
lower cortex choline acetyltransferase activity than the
control normal mice (P < 0.05). The administration
of phosphatidylcholine to mice with dementia improved memory
and generally increased brain choline and acetylcholine
concentrations to or above the levels of the control
normal mice. In normal mice, phosphatidylcholine
treatment did not affect memory or acetylcholine
concentrations in spite of the great increase in choline
concentrations in the three brain regions. Serum choline
concentration in mice treated with phosphatidylcholine
increased to a similar level in both strains of mice, indicating
that the absorption of phosphatidylcholine was not impaired
in mice with dementia. The results suggest that administration
of egg phosphatidylcholine to mice with dementia increases
brain acetylcholine concentration and improves memory.
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