Formulation of a Medical Food Cocktail for Alzheimer's Disease: Beneficial Effects on Cognition and Neuropathology in a Mouse Model of the Disease

Background: Dietary supplements have been extensively studied for their beneficial effects on cognition and AD neuropathology. The current study examines the effect of a medical food cocktail consisting of the dietary supplements curcumin, piperine, epigallocatechin gallate, alpha-lipoic acid, N-acetylcysteine, B vitaminsvitamin C, and folate on cognitive functioning and the AD hallmark features and amyloid-beta (A beta) in the Tg2576 mouse model of the disease. Principal Findings: The study found that administering the medical food cocktail for 6 months improved cortical- and hippocampal- dependent learning in the transgenic mice, rendering their performance indistinguishable from non-transgenic controls. Coinciding with this improvement in learning and memory, we found that treatment resulted in decreased soluble A beta, including A beta oligomers, previously found to be linked to cognitive functioning. Conclusion: In conclusion, the current study demonstrates that combination diet consisting of natural dietary supplements improves cognitive functioning while decreasing AD neuropathology and may thus represent a safe, natural treatment for AD.