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Dietary Prenatal Choline Supplementation Alters Postnatal Hippocampal Structure and Function

¹ Neurobiology Research Laboratory, Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Durham 27705; ² Department of Pharmacology, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, North Carolina 27710; ³ Department of Psychiatry, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, North Carolina 27710; ⁴ Department of Psychology, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, North Carolina 27710; ⁵ Department of Neurobiology, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, North Carolina 27710; ⁶ Department of Surgery (Neurosurgery), Duke University Medical Center, Durham, North Carolina 27710; ⁷ Department of Pediatrics, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, North Carolina 27710

Submitted 12 August 2003; accepted in final form 18 November 2003

Choline, a compound present in many foods, has recently been classified as an essential nutrient for humans. Studies with animal models indicate that the availability of choline during the prenatal period influences neural and cognitive development. Specifically, prenatal choline supplementation has been shown to enhance working memory and hippocampal long-term potentiation (LTP) in adult offspring. However, the cellular mechanisms underlying these effects remain unclear. Here we report that choline supplementation, during a 6-day gestational period, results in greater excitatory responsiveness, reduced slow afterhyperpolarizations (sAHPs), enhanced afterdepolarizing potentials (ADPs), larger somata, and greater basal dendritic arborization among hippocampal CA1 pyramidal cells studied postnatally in juvenile rats (20–25 days of age). These data indicate that dietary supplementation with a single nutrient, choline, during a brief, critical period of prenatal development, alters the structure and function of hippocampal pyramidal cells.

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