CITICOLINE IMPROVES MEMORY PERFORMANCE IN ELDERLY SUBJECTS

Citicoline is a choline donor involved in the biosynthesis of brain ph ospholipids and acetylcholine extensively used in the treatment of neu rodegenerative diseases. In this study we investigated the effects of the oral administration of citicoline alone (C1000: 1000 mg/day; C500: 500 mg/day) or in combination with nimodipine (C+Ni:300 + 90 mg/day) during 4 weeks on memory performance in elderly subjects with memory d eficits and without dementia (N = 24; age = 66.12 +/- 10.78 years; MMS score=31.69 +/- 2.76). Results indicated that citicoline in compariso n with placebo improves memory in free recall tasks, but not in recogn ition tests. A significant improvement in word recall (5.17 +/- 1.1 vs . 3.95 +/- 1.2 omissions; p < 0.005), immediate object recall (6.5 +/- 1.6 vs. 5.5 +/- 1.2 omission; p < 0.05) and delayed object recall (8. 5 +/- 2.1 vs 6.7 +/- 2.4 omissions; p < 0.005) was observed after citi coline treatment. Similar results were found in the three subgroups of treatment (8 subjects per group), suggesting that citicoline possesse s memory-enhancing activity at doses of 300-1000 mg/day. A decrease in systolic blood pressure and minor changes in lymphocyte cell counting were also observed in old subjects after receiving citicoline. These effects are consistent with the vasoregulatory and neuroimmune actions of citicoline and suggest that this compound may improve memory by ac ting on mechanisms of brain neurotropism and cerebrovascular regulatio n. According to the present results, showing that citicoline improves memory performance in elderly subjects, we concluded that this molecul e is suitable for the treatment of memory deficits in old people.