Abstracts

Rationale: .L-alpha-glycerylphosphorylcholine (a-GPC) is a natural choline compound found in the brain. a-GPC is used to enhance memory and cognition for stroke and Alzheimer's patients but currently remains untested in patients suffering from epilepsy. This study aimed to evaluate whether a-GPC treatment after seizure can ameliorate seizure-induced cognitive impairment and neural injury. Methods: Seizure was induced by intraperitoneal (i.p) injection of pilocarpine (25 mg/kg) in adult male rats. a-GPC (250 mg/kg) was injected into the intramuscular (i.m) space three weeks after seizure onset for three weeks once-daily administration. To evaluate if treatment with a-GPC provides protection to hippocampal dependent cognitive abilities following seizure we analyzed subject performance using a standard water maze test protocol and brain NeuN immunohistochemistry to determine hippocampal neuronal survival. All groups were sacrificed at 6 weeks post-seizure. Results: we observed enhanced survival of hippocampal neurons and improved cognitive function in animals receiving a-GPC injection after pilocarpine-induced seizure. Conclusions: This result suggests that increase of hippocampal acetylcholine by a-GPC is associated with increase of hippocampal neurogenesis and improvement of cognitive function. Therefore, a-GPC administration may serve as a beneficial treatment for improvement of cognitive function in epilepsy patients. Funding: None