The Effect of Choline Alphoscerate on Non spatial memory and Neurogenesis in a Rat Model of Dual Stress

Choline alphoscerate (α-GPC) is a choline-based compound and acetylcholine precursor commonly found in the brain; it has been known to be effective in treating neuronal injury and increasing the levels of acetylcholine (Ach) and brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) which in turn enhances memory and cognitive function. This study was designed to establish rat models of dual stress using noise and restraint in order to investigate the effect of α-GPC on cognitive function and neurogenesis after dual stress. The rats were randomly divided into four groups as follows: a control group (CG), a control with α-GPC group (CDG), a noise-restraint stress group (NRSG), and a noise-restraint stress with α-GPC group (NRSDG). Two experimental groups were exposed to the double stress stimuli of noise and restraint, which involved 110dB sound pressure level (SPL) white band noise and restraint at the same time for 3 hours/day for 7 days. While the CG and NRSG received saline, the CDG and NRSDG received α-GPC (400mg/kg) orally after stress exposure. The α-GPC–treated group showed increased memory function compared to the dual stress group in the novel object recognition test. In analysis of the hippocampus, the α-GPC–treated group showed greater Choline acetyltransferase (ChAT) and BDNF expression compared to the dual stress group. The α-GPC–treated group showed significantly increased neuroblast expression compared to the dual stress group, which suggests that α-GPC enhances BDNF expression and protects the activity of the immature cells at the dentate gyrus. Our results suggest that α-GPC treatment can protect cognitive function and neurogenesis in a dual stress model.