Written by Greg Arnold, DC, CSCS. In a study in mice in which Down Syndrome was created, those taking high levels of choline did 14% and 18% better than a control group on attention tasks.
Down Syndrome is the most frequent genetic cause of mild to moderate intellectual and developmental disabilities, occurring in one out of 800 live births in all races and economic groups. Down syndrome is caused by the presence of an additional third chromosome 21, also called “trisomy 21.” Total lifetime costs of caring for patients with Down Syndrome have been estimated to range from $150,000 to $350,000 per patient (2).
The incidence of Down syndrome rises with increasing maternal age, with prenatal testing recommended for women who become pregnant at age 35 or older. The odds that a woman under 30 who becomes pregnant will have a baby with Down syndrome is less than 1 in 1,000 but increases to 1 in 400 for women who become pregnant at age 35. The likelihood of Down syndrome continues to increase as a woman ages, so that by age 42, the chance is 1 in 60 by age 42, and 1 in 12 by age 49. But using maternal age alone will not detect over 75% of pregnancies that will result in Down syndrome (1).
Now a new study in mice (3) has found that choline may help maintain mental health in newborns. In the study, female mice genetically engineered to give birth to mice with Down Syndrome were fed either a normal diet or a choline-supplemented diet throughout their pregnancy (3 weeks) plus during 3 weeks of lactation after birth. The researchers also had another group of normal mice and also gave them either choline or placebo. Those in the choline group were fed 4.5 times more choline than that given to the placebo group equialent to higher level intakes in humans (4) which ranges from 450 to 550 mg per day (5).
When the offspring in all four groups were 6 months old, they were put through a series of behavioral tests. Down Syndrome offspring in the choline group were significantly better in correctly performing two different attention tasks versus the placebo group (66% vs 56.5% in one attention task and 62.5% vs 51.5% in the second attention task) while no significant differences were seen in the normal groups. Also, while those in the placebo Down syndrome group became more agitated after a mistake (exhibiting “repetitive jumping” and taking longer to initiate the next trial) compared to both normal groups, the choline-supplemented Down syndrome mice showed “partial improvement” regarding agitation, taking less time to initiate the next trial and being less agitated.
When attempting to explain how choline elicits these benefits on mental performance in Down Syndrome mice, the researchers pointed to research suggesting choline supplementation to help preserve function of nerves in the brain affected by choline called “cholinergic basal forebrain” nerves (6), known to be vital to helping maintain proper brain function after injury (7). They went on to conclude, “These findings offer the exciting possibility that increasing the choline intake of pregnant and lactating women might significantly lessen the cognitive and affective dysfunction in offspring who have Down Syndrome.”
Source: Moon, Jisook, et al. “Perinatal choline supplementation improves cognitive functioning and emotion regulation in the Ts65Dn mouse model of Down syndrome.” Behavioral neuroscience 124.3 (2010): 346.
© 2010 American Psychological Association
Posted July 8, 2010.
References:
- “Facts About Down Syndrome” – see the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development website.
- “Cost of Down Syndrome” – see the Environmental Protection Agency website.
- Chen MJ. Perinatal choline supplementation improves cognitive functioning and emotion regulation in the Ts65Dn mouse model of Down syndrome. Behav Neurosci. 2010 Jun;124(3):346-61.
- Detopoulou, P., Panagiotakos, D. B., Antonopoulou, S., Pitsavos, C. & Stefanadis, C. (2008). Dietary choline and betaine intakes in relation to concentrations of inflammatory markers in healthy adults: The ATTICA study. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 87, 424-430.
- “Dietary Reference Intakes: Vitamins” – see the Institute of Medicine website.
- Salehi, A., Delcroix, J. D., Belichenko, P. V., Zhan, K., Wu, C., Valletta, J. S. & Mobley, W. C. (2006). Increased App expression in a mouse model of Down’s syndrome disrupts NGF transport and causes cholinergic neuron degeneration. Neuron, 51, 29-42.
- Conner JM. The Basal Forebrain Cholinergic System Is Essential for Cortical Plasticity and Functional Recovery following Brain Injury. Neuron 2005; 46(2): 173-179.
