The effect of choline supplementation on maze running ability in hypothyroid rats

The effects of perinatal hypothyroidism and perinatal choline supplementation on radial arm maze performance were assessed. Animals were made hypothyroid by the administration of propylthiouracil (PTU) to the mash of dams from prenatal day 15 until postnatal day 15. Choline chloride was administered prenatally in drinking water and postnatally through injections to the pups until day 24. Hypothyroid animals made significantly more reference and working memory errors than did euthyroid animals. Perinatal choline supplementation reduced the number of working memory errors, but not reference memory errors, in both euthyroid and hypothyroid animals.