Combined Treatment With Environmental Enrichment and (-)-Epigallocatechin-3-Gallate Ameliorates Learning Deficits and Hippocampal Alterations in a Mouse Model of Down Syndrome
Published in eNeuro, 2016
Recommended citation: S. Catuara-Solarz, J. Espinosa-Carrasco, I. Erb, K. Langohr, J. R. Gonzalez, C. Notredame and M. Dierssen Time-course and dynamics of obesity-related behavioral changes induced by energy-dense foods in mice, eNeuro 19 October 2016, 3 (5) ENEURO.0103-16.2016, DOI: 10.1523/eneuro.0103-16.2016 https://www.eneuro.org/content/3/5/ENEURO.0103-16.2016
Abstract
Authors: Silvina Catuara-Solarz, Jose Espinosa-Carrasco, Ionas Erb, Klaus Langohr, Juan Ramon Gonzalez, Cedric Notredame Mara Dierssen.
Intellectual disability in Down syndrome (DS) is accompanied by altered neuro-architecture, deficient synaptic plasticity, and excitation-inhibition imbalance in critical brain regions for learning and memory. Recently, we have demonstrated beneficial effects of a combined treatment with green tea extract containing (-)-epigallocatechin-3-gallate (EGCG) and cognitive stimulation in young adult DS individuals. Although we could reproduce the cognitive-enhancing effects in mouse models, the underlying mechanisms of these beneficial effects are unknown. Here, we explored the effects of a combined therapy with environmental enrichment (EE) and EGCG in the Ts65Dn mouse model of DS at young age. Our results show that combined EE-EGCG treatment improved corticohippocampal-dependent learning and memory. Cognitive improvements were accompanied by a rescue of cornu ammonis 1 (CA1) dendritic spine density and a normalization of the proportion of excitatory and inhibitory synaptic markers in CA1 and dentate gyrus.