Plant Compound May Cut Cognitive Deficits.

• Position: DOWN SYNDROME

The plant compound apigenin improved the cognitive and memory deficits usually seen in a mouse model of Down syndrome, according to a study by researchers at the National Institutes of Health and other institutions. Apigenin is found in chamomile flowers, parsley, celery, peppermint, and citrus fruits.

The researchers fed the compound to pregnant mice carrying fetuses with Down syndrome characteristics and then to the animals after they were bom and as they matured. The findings raise the possibility that a treatment to lessen the cognitive deficits seen in Down syndrome one day could be offered to pregnant women whose fetuses have been diagnosed with the condition through prenatal testing. The study appears in the American Journal of Human Genetics.

Down syndrome is a set of symptoms resulting from an extra copy or piece of chromosome 21. The intellectual and developmental disabilities accompanying the condition are believed to result from decreased brain growth...