Fig. 2: Choline alleviated repetitive behavior induced by MTHFR deficiency.
a, b Number of marbles buried in the marble burring test. a Males; b females. c, d Nesting material processing score 24 h after introduction of new nesting material to the homecage. c Males; d females. Results are means ± SEM; white bars—pre choline treatment, gray bars—post choline treatment; N = Male: Wt-Wt 19, Wt-Het 7, Het-Het 14; female: Wt-Wt 17, Wt-Het 13, Het-Het 17 for each condition. Results were analyzed by 4-way ANOVA with the independent variables maternal Mthfr genotype, Mthfr genotype, treatment (±choline) and sex. a, b Main effects (males + females): choline treatment, F1,173 = 6.5, p = 0.012; genotypeXcholine treatment interaction, F1,173 = 16.5, p = 0.000. a Male groups: choline treatment, F1,74 = 6.5, p = 0.001; genotypeXcholine treatment interaction, F1,74 = 5.9, p = 0.017; pre choline treatment the Het-Het mice buried significantly more marbles than the Wt-Wt mice and choline treatment counteracted this difference, Bonferroni post hoc test, **p < 0.01 and ***p < 0.001, respectively. b Female groups: genotype, F1,98 = 4.5, p = 0.035; genotypeXcholine treatment interaction, F1,98 = 12.5, p = 0.001; pre choline treatment the Het-Het mice buried significantly more marbles than the Wt-Wt and the Wt-Het mice, *p < 0.05 and **p < 0.01, respectively, and choline treatment counteracted these differences, Bonferroni post hoc test, *p < 0.05; c, d main effects (males + females): genotype, F1,181 = 8.5, p = 0.004; choline treatment, F1,181 = 15.3, p = 0.000; sex, F1,181 = 13.1, p = 0.000; sex × choline treatment interaction, F1,181 = 4.4, p = 0.04. c Male groups: genotype, F1,77 = 9.8, p = 0.003; choline treatment, F1,77 = 6.4, p = 0.01; pre choline treatment Wt-Het mice processed nest material less than the Wt-Wt group, Bonferroni post hoc test, ***p < 0.001 and choline treatment counteracted this difference, Bonferroni post hoc test, *p < 0.05; d female groups: choline treatment, F1,103 = 9.4, p = 0.003.
