Dietary Control of Neural Development: Soy Lecithin

Bell, Joanne

Abstract

Commercial soy lecithin (a mixture of phosphatidylcholine, phosphatidylethanolamine, phosphoinositol, etc.) is available over-the-counter and is erroneously marketed to """"""""enhance memory and eliminate fat"""""""". Nontherapeutic intake of these impure preparations may be potentially hazardous to the fetus, as the permeability of some of the membrane-active components of the preparation is extremely high in the developing brain. Phospholipids are rapidly incorporated into developing brain either as membrane constituents, acetylcholine, or both; thus soy lecithin preparations (SLP) could act in either fashion to influence maturation of cells in the central nervous system. We have found that SLP influences development of sensorimotor behavior as well as brain cell replication and maturation. The current proposal will explore the pre- and postsynaptic events which may mediate these neurochemical and behavioral anomalies, and will determine if these events are specific to any particular neurotransmitter system. Synaptosomal uptake of tritiated norepinephrine, dopamine, serotonin and choline, as well as the neurotransmitter turnover rate in these systems will be examined in SLP exposed offspring in discrete brain regions during several stages of postnatal development. Postsynaptic consequences of perinatal SLP will be measured using radioligand binding techniques. In addition, potential effects of SLP on functional responses of membrane phospholipid components will be evaluated by assessment of basal and neurotransmitter-stimulated phospholipid turnover in brain. These studies will provide information as to the nature of the events which lead to defective brain development and behavioral anomalies consequent to perinatal exposure to commercially available phospholipid compounds.