Preventive Effects of Continuous Betaine Intake on Cognitive Impairment and Aberrant Gene Expression in Hippocampus of 3xTg Mouse Model of Alzheimer's Disease.

Background: The deposition of amyloid-β (Aβ) and hyperphosphorylation of tau are well-known as the pathophysiological features of Alzheimer's disease (AD), leading to oxidative stress and synaptic deficits followed by cognitive symptoms. We already demonstrated that betaine (glycine betaine) prevented cognitive impairment and hippocampal oxidative stress in mice intracerebroventricularly injected with an active fragment of Aβ, whereas the effect of betaine in chronic models of AD remains unknown.

Objective: Our objective was to investigate the effects of chronic betaine intake on cognitive impairment and aberrant expression of genes involved in synapse and antioxidant activity in the hippocampus of a genetic AD model.