choline and downs

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hope no one has posted this already

http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/190922.php

Key Nutrient In Maternal Diet Promises 'Dramatic' Improvements For People With

Down Syndrome

05 Jun 2010

A nutrient found in egg yolks, liver and cauliflower taken by mothers during

pregnancy and nursing may offer lifelong " dramatic " health benefits to people

with Down syndrome .

A new study carried out at Cornell University and published June 2 in the

peer-reviewed journal Behavioral Neuroscience found that more choline during

pregnancy and nursing could provide lasting cognitive and emotional benefits to

people with Down syndrome. The work indicated greater maternal levels of the

essential nutrient also could protect against neurodegenerative conditions such

as Alzheimer's disease.

" We found that supplementing the maternal diet with additional choline resulted

in dramatic improvements in attention and some normalization of emotion

regulation in a mouse model of Down syndrome, " said lead author Barbara Strupp,

professor of nutritional sciences and of psychology.

In addition to mental retardation, Down syndrome individuals often experience

dementia in middle age as a result of brain neuron atrophy similar to that

suffered by people with Alzheimer's disease. Strupp said the improved mental

abilities found in the Down syndrome mice following maternal choline supplements

could indicate protection from such neurodegeneration " in the population at

large. "

Strupp and her co-authors tested Down syndrome-model mice born from mothers that

were fed a normal diet versus those given choline supplements during their

three-week pregnancy and three-week lactation period. They also examined normal

mice born from mothers with and without additional choline. The

choline-supplemented mothers received about 4.5 times more choline (roughly

comparable to levels at the higher range of human intake) than unsupplemented

mothers.

Beginning at 6 months of age, the mice performed a series of behavioral tasks

over a period of about six months to assess their impulsivity, attention span,

emotional control and other mental abilities. The researchers found the

unsupplemented Down syndrome-model mice became more agitated after a mistake

than normal mice, jumping repeatedly and taking longer to initiate the next

trial. The choline-supplemented Down syndrome-model mice showed partial

improvement in these areas.

" I'm impressed by the magnitude of the cognitive benefits seen in the Down

syndrome-model mice, " Strupp said. " Moreover, these are clearly lasting

cognitive improvements, seen many months after the period of choline

supplementation. "

Strupp said the results are consistent with studies by other researchers that

found increased maternal choline intake improves offspring cognitive abilities

in rats. However, this is the first study to evaluate the effects of maternal

choline supplementation in a rodent model of Down syndrome.

Previous studies of humans and laboratory animals have shown that supplementing

the diets of adults with choline has proven to be largely ineffective in

improving cognition.

" Although the precise mechanism is unknown, these lasting beneficial effects of

choline observed in the present study are likely to be limited to increased

intake during very early development, " Strupp said.

The study, funded in part by the National Institutes of Health, was part of the

dissertation of Cornell doctoral candidate Jisook Moon. Other Cornell

collaborators included Myla Strawderman, research associate in nutritional

sciences, and Levitsky, professor of nutrition and psychology. Strupp and

collaborators have received additional NIH funding to study the neural

mechanisms underlying the results observed in this study.

Source:

Carberry

Cornell University