A new research study done at MIT suggests that a combination of choline, omega-3 fatty acids
with the uridine improved memory and learning in gerbils, and may
have benefits for Alzheimer patients.
Animals fed the nutrient mix
performed better in maze tests than animals not fed the combination, a result
attributed to improved cognitive function, according to results published in
the
Federation of American Societies of Experimental Biology (FASEB) journal
.
Researchers from MIT are now taking the research a step further and have are
exploring the potential of a beverage-based prevention for
Alzheimer's
and other brain diseases.
"It may be possible to use this [combination] to partially restore
brain function in people with diseases that decrease the number of brain
neurons, including, for example, Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's, strokes and
brain injuries. Of course, such speculations have to be tested in double-blind,
placebo-controlled clinical trials,"
said senior author Richard
Wurtman.
Trials are reportedly underway in Europe, and preliminary results have been
submitted to the Alzheimer's Association International Conference on
Alzheimer's Disease, to be held in Chicago at the end of this month.
Wurtman and co-workers supplemented the diets of gerbils with uridine (in its
monophosphate form, 0.5 per cent) and
choline
(0.1 per cent), and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA, 300 mg/kg/day) for four weeks.
DHA is an
omega-3
fatty acids obtained predominantly from marine sources. Choline is found in
meats, nuts and eggs, and can also be made by the body. Uridine, on the other
hand, is contained in breast milk and synthesized by the body - there seems to be some debate as to whether it is available in foods - I've seen some sources that suggest that uridine is found in beets, other sources have said its not available in any food products.
At the end of the study, significant increases in phospholipid levels in the
brain were observed when the compounds were given together, while
administration of only DHA or UMP or UMP plus choline produced smaller
increases.
When the animals were subjected to different maze tests, the combination of supplements produced the best results, indicating enhanced cognitive function.
The MIT researchers report that the benefits of the combination are due to the restoration of synapses, where information is passed between neurons. These play a critical role in learning and memory.
All three dietary supplements used in the study are precursors to the fatty molecules that make up cell membranes, including the membranes of brain cells, which form synapses.
The researchers report that gerbils that received all three supplements had as much as 70 per cent more phospholipids in the cell membranes than control animals, suggesting the formation of new synapses.
"The improvements in cognition observed in normal gerbils in this study and in rats with impaired cognition, in a previous study, correlate perfectly with the evidence of increased brain synapses, as shown biochemically and anatomically," said Wurtman. "This suggests that treating the animals with the experimental mixture affects behavior by increasing the number of synapses in important brain regions."
For the preliminary results of the clinical trial, we must await the end of the month to discover if similar benefits can be repeated in humans.
The research was funded by the National Institutes of Health and the CBSMCT.
Research Journal Article Source: "Dietary uridine enhances the improvement in learning and memory produced by administering DHA to gerbils"
Authors: S. Holguin, J. Martinez, C. Chow, R. Wurtman, FASEB Journal
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