CONTEXT A central tenet of Alzheimer disease (AD) is the loss of cortical cholinergic function and cholinergic markers in postmortem brain specimens. Whether these profound deficits in cholinergic markers found in end-stage patients are also found in patients with much earlier disease is not known. OBJECTIVE To determine whether cholinergic deficits in AD precede, follow, or occur in synchron...

A role for choline during early stages of mammalian embryogenesis has not been established, although recent studies show that inhibitors of choline uptake and metabolism, 2-dimethylaminoethanol (DMAE), and 1-O-octadecyl-2-O-methyl-rac-glycero-3-phosphocholine (ET-18-OCH3), produce neural tube defects in mouse embryos grown in vitro. To determine potential mechanisms responsible for these abnorm...

[3H] choline and [3H] acetyl CoA were injected into the cell body of an identified cholinergic neuron, the giant R2 of the Aplysia abdominal ganglion, and the fate and distribution of the radioactivity studied. Direct eveidence was obtained that the availabliity of choline to the enzymatic machinery limits synthesis. [3H] choline injected intrasomatically was converted to acetylcholine far more...

A S s T RA C T [sH]Choline, injected directly into the major axon of the identified cholinergic neuron R2, was readily incorporated into [SH]acetylcholine. Its metabolic fate was similar to that o f [SH]choline injected into the cell body of R2. Over the range injected, we found that the amounts of acetylcholine formed were proportional to the amounts injected; the synthetic capability was not ...

Choline is an essential nutrient for rats and humans, and its availability during fetal development has long-lasting cognitive effects (Blusztajn, 1998). We investigated the effects of prenatal choline supplementation on memory deficits associated with status epilepticus. Pregnant rats received a control or choline-supplemented diet during days 11-17 of gestation. Male offspring [postnatal day ...

A S s T RA C T [sH]Choline, injected directly into the major axon of the identified cholinergic neuron R2, was readily incorporated into [SH]acetylcholine. Its metabolic fate was similar to that o f [SH]choline injected into the cell body of R2. Over the range injected, we found that the amounts of acetylcholine formed were proportional to the amounts injected; the synthetic capability was not ...