Soy-derived LPC70 curbs salt-linked behavior changes in mice

Fujita Health University researchers said in a ScienceDaily research summary published Oct. 18 that LPC70, a soy lysolecithin with lysophosphatidylcholine above 70% of phospholipids, reduced high-salt diet effects in mice.

Evidence grade: Early (small, animal, cell or preprint). The finding matters because the mice given LPC70 did better than mice consuming excess salt alone, but the summary did not provide sample size, duration, dose or absolute effect sizes.

The study compared mice on a high-salt diet with mice receiving the same diet plus LPC70. Researchers reported that excess salt raised blood pressure, reduced social interaction and impaired recognition of familiar objects, while general movement and anxiety-like behavior did not change substantially.

LPC70 supplementation was associated with improved blood pressure and better performance on social-interaction and object-recognition memory tests, according to the Fujita Health University material. The work was led by Akihiro Mouri and Hisayoshi Kubota, with Kazuhiro Kagotani.

“We wanted to understand the role of LPC70 in coordinating changes in PG signaling across organ systems,” Mouri said in the research summary. He added that the project came from collaboration with Tsuji Oil Mills Co., Ltd., which develops naturally derived food ingredients.

The mechanism centers on prostaglandins, local signaling molecules made from arachidonic acid that help regulate blood vessels and brain inflammation pathways. In the kidneys, the high-salt diet increased cyclooxygenase-2 and the PGE2 receptor EP3; LPC70 reduced those salt-related increases, the researchers reported.

The team reported a different pattern in the prefrontal cortex, a brain region involved in thinking, memory and social behavior. Excess salt reduced expression of the PGD2 receptor DP1, and LPC70 restored that receptor without changing DP2, another receptor described in the summary as linked to potentially harmful nerve-cell effects.

The researchers also reported that mice eating excess salt had lower circulating arachidonic acid, while LPC70 increased prostaglandins derived from it, including PGE2 and PGD2. The authors said this may mean the compound changes how arachidonic acid is used under high-salt conditions.

The study cannot show that LPC70 protects people from salt-related blood pressure, memory or social-behavior changes. It was conducted in mice, and the ScienceDaily material did not report human data, clinical outcomes, confidence intervals or absolute risk differences.

The result applies only to the animal model described, not to adults, children, pregnant people or patients with hypertension. The material lists funding from the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science, Fujita Mind-BRIDGe, Japan’s J-PEAKS Program, the Japan Science and Technology Agency FOREST Program, Tsuji Oil Mills Co., Ltd., and other Japanese research foundations and facilities.

The findings were released online May 14 and published July 1 in volume 197 of Neurochemistry International. Mouri said the work lays “the groundwork for future clinical research and dietary interventions,” but no dated human trial was provided in the material.

Source: Research summary, ScienceDaily Health/Fujita Health University, Oct. 18, 2026; journal article, Neurochemistry International, published July 1, 2026.

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