Phlorizin enhancement of memory in rats and mice.

Glucose administration near the time of training or testing elevates blood glucose levels and enhances memory in rodents and humans. The magnitude of increases in circulating glucose levels predicts later retention performance in these and several other situations. Thus, circulating glucose levels appear to contribute to the regulation of memory storage processes. Phlorizin is an inhibitor of glucose transport, which, in view of the effects of glucose on memory, should impair memory. However, rats and mice injected with phlorizin before training in an inhibitory (passive) avoidance task demonstrated significantly enhanced memory performance compared to that of control animals. The effective dose of phlorizin did not significantly change regional brain-relative 3H-2-deoxyglucose uptake or plasma glucose levels. To summarize, phlorizin is a potent memory-enhancing drug. While the mechanism of this enhancement is unknown, it does not appear to include changes in blood glucose levels or brain glucose uptake.