Dietary Choline Protects Against Cognitive Decline After Surgery in Mice

Area of Science:

• Neuroscience
• Surgical Research
• Nutritional Science

Background:

• Perioperative neurocognitive disorders (PNDs) are common after surgery, particularly orthopedic procedures.
• Previous studies linked tibial fracture surgery to neuroinflammation and cognitive deficits, which were improved by cholinergic agonists.
• The potential of dietary interventions for preventing PNDs remains an area of active investigation.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the impact of a high-choline diet, initiated before surgery, on cognitive function and neurobiological changes following tibial fracture surgery.
• To determine if pre-surgical choline supplementation can mitigate the negative effects of surgery on memory and hippocampal structure.

Main Methods:

• A mouse model of tibial fracture and repair surgery was used.
• Mice received a high-choline diet for 3 weeks prior to surgery.
• Cognitive function was assessed using novel object recognition (NOR) at 1 day and 2 weeks post-surgery.
• Hippocampal neurogenesis and glial cell morphology were analyzed.

Main Results:

• Tibial fracture surgery impaired NOR performance at both 1 day and 2 weeks post-surgery.
• Dietary choline supplementation significantly rescued these memory impairments.
• Choline partially blunted the increase in astrocytic density and hilar granule cells observed 1 day post-surgery.
• The increase in young neurons in the dentate gyrus 2 weeks post-surgery was also partially blunted by choline.

Conclusions:

• Pre-surgical dietary choline intervention effectively prevents cognitive impairments following tibial fracture surgery in mice.
• Choline supplementation appears to modulate neuroinflammatory and neurogenic responses in the hippocampus after injury.
• Dietary strategies, like pre-surgical choline intake, represent a promising non-pharmaceutical approach for preventing perioperative neurocognitive disorders (PNDs).