Vitamin E May Help Preserve Mental Health

by | Apr 9, 2010 | 2009, Brain Health, Cardiovascular Health, Cognitive Health, Vitamin E

Written by Greg Arnold, DC, CSCS. Rats had twice the memory retention in a maze test when supplemented with vitamin E and pyrroloquinoline quinone.

One of the proposed mechanisms behind cognitive diseases like Alzheimer’s (affecting 4.5 million Americans (1) and costing $100 billion per year (2)) and Parkinson’s (affecting 1.5 million Americans (3) and costing $5.6 billion (4)) is oxidative damage to nerve cells in the brain. Now a new study in rats (5) has suggested that vitamin E may help preserve mental health in the elderly.

In the study, rats were put into a “young” group (3 months old) or an “old” group (25 months old) and given either vitamin E (200 mg per day) another antioxidant called PQQ (6) (20 mg per kg/body weight per day) or placebo for 8 weeks. The researchers measured the cognitive abilities of the rats by having them complete a Morris water maze (7).

The researchers found no difference in learning times in the young group within the PQQ, vitamin E and control groups. But the learning improvement in the old group supplemented with vitamin E or PQQ “enhanced markedly”.  Specifically, by the fifth day of supplementation and water maze trials, the learning rate of the supplemented 25-month old rats was 76% of the 3 month group compared to 28% in the 25-month old rats in the control group.

The researchers also took a group of the rats and exposed them to increased oxidative stress by placing them in a 100% oxygen chamber for two days.  They then re-tested the rats and found that the vitamin E or PQQ-supplemented 25-month old rats had a 99% retention rate for the maze compared to the 3 month groups while the control 25-month old group had a 48% retention rate. This showed that both vitamin E and PQQ helped maintain nerve cell health by protecting against oxidative damage.

For the researchers, “These results suggest that vitamin E may improve cognitive deficit caused through aging by not only its [nerve]-protecting effect of an antioxidant efficacy”.

Source: Takatsu, Hirokatsu, et al. “Effect of vitamin E on learning and memory deficit in aged rats.” Journal of nutritional science and vitaminology 55.5 (2009): 389-393.

Copyright © 2009 by the Center for Academic Publications Japan

Posted April 9, 2010.

*PQQ = Pyrroloquinoline quinone

References:

  1. Hebert, LE; Scherr, PA; Bienias, JL; Bennett, DA; Evans, DA. “Alzheimer Disease in the U.S. Population: Prevalence Estimates Using the 2000 Census.” Archives of Neurology August 2003; 60 (8): 1119 – 1122.
  2. Ernst, RL; Hay, JW. “The U.S. Economic and Social Costs of Alzheimer’s Disease Revisited.” American Journal of Public Health 1994; 84(8): 1261 – 1264.
  3. “About Parkinson Disease” posted on the National Parkinson Foundation Website.
  4. “Ten Frequently Asked Questions About Parkinson’s Disease” posted on the Parkinson’s Disease Foundation Website.
  5. Takatsu H. Effect of Vitamin E on Learning and Memory Deficit in Aged Rats.  Jou Nutr Sci Vitaminol 2009; 55:389-393
  6. “PQQ is the first new vitamin in 55 years” – posted on the RIKEN Brain Science Institute website.
  7. Morris Water Maze – posted on the Morris Water Maze website.