Prenatal Dietary Choline Supplementation Decreases the Threshold for Induction of Long-Term Potentiation in Young Adult Rats

Pyapali, Gowri K., Dennis A. Turner, Christina L. Williams, Warren H. Meck, and H. Scott Swartzwelder. Prenatal dietary choline supplementation decreases the threshold for induction of long-term potentiation in young adult rats. J. Neurophysiol. 79: 1790–1796, 1998. Choline supplementation during gestation in rats leads to augmentation of spatial memory in adulthood. We hypothesized that prenatal (E12–E17) choline supplementation in the rat would lead to an enhancement of hippocampal synaptic plasticity as assessed by long-term potentiation (LTP) at 3–4 mo of age. LTP was assessed blindly in area CA1 of hippocampal slices with first suprathreshold (above threshold for LTP generation in control slices) theta-burst stimulus trains. The magnitude of potentiation after these stimuli was not different between slices from control and prenatally choline supplemented animals. Next, threshold (reliably leading to LTP generation in control slices) or subthreshold theta-burst stimulus trains were applied to slices f...