Creatine therapy provides neuroprotection after onset of clinical symptoms in Huntington's disease transgenic mice

Abstract

While there have been enormous strides in the understanding of Huntington's disease (HD) pathogenesis, treatment to slow or prevent disease progression remains elusive. We previously reported that dietary creatine supplementation significantly improves the clinical and neuropathological phenotype in transgenic HD mice lines starting at weaning, before clinical symptoms appear. We now report that creatine administration started after onset of clinical symptoms significantly extends survival in the R6/2 transgenic mouse model of HD. Creatine treatment started at 6, 8, and 10 weeks of age, analogous to early, middle, and late stages of human HD, significantly extended survival at both the 6- and 8-week starting points. Significantly improved motor performance was present in both the 6- and 8-week treatment paradigms, while reduced body weight loss was only observed in creatine-supplemented R6/2 mice started at 6 weeks. Neuropathological sequelae of gross brain and neuronal atrophy and huntingtin aggregates were delayed in creatine-treated R6/2 mice started at 6 weeks. We show significantly reduced brain levels of both creatine and ATP in R6/2 mice, consistent with a bioenergetic defect. Oral creatine supplementation significantly increased brain concentrations of creatine and ATP to wild-type control levels, exerting a neuroprotective effect. These findings have important therapeutic implications, suggesting that creatine therapy initiated after diagnosis may provide significant clinical benefits to HD patients.

Fig. 1

The effects of oral administration of creatine in the diet started at 6, 8, and 10 weeks of age on survival (a), motor performance (b), and body weight (c) in R6/2 transgenic HD mice.■, R6/1 6-week start; Δ, R6/2 8-week start; ♦, R6/2 10-week start;○, R6/2 untreated;●, wild-type untreated.

Fig. 2

Gross brain atrophy of coronal step serial-sections from the rostral to caudal axis of the neostriatum in untreated (a1–a4) and creatine-treated (b1–b4) R6/2 mice. Dietary 2% creatine supplementation started at 6 weeks reduced gross brain atrophy and ventricular enlargement in R6/2 mice (b), in comparison to the untreated R6/2 mice (a). Bar in (a1) equals 2 mm.

Fig. 3

Dorso-medial aspect of the neostriatum in littermate wild-type control mouse (a), creatine-treated R6/2 mouse started at 6 weeks (b), and untreated R6/2 mouse (c). At 90 days of age, marked striatal neuron atrophy was present in the untreated R6/2 mouse (c) that was significantly reduced in the creatine-treated R6/2 mouse (b), in comparison to wild-type littermate control mice (a). Bar in (a) equals 50 µm.

Fig. 4

Huntingtin-positive aggregates in the neostriatum in an R6/2 mouse (a) and creatine supplemented R6/2 mouse (b) at 90 days of age. Histopathological comparison showed that dietary supplementation with 2% creatine initiated at 6 weeks resulted in a significant reduction in striatal aggregate number. Bar in (a) equals 100 µm.