Supplementation of maternal diet with the essential nutrient, choline, during the second half of pregnancy in rats causes long-lasting improvements in spatial memory in the offspring and protects them from the memory decline characteristic of old age. In contrast, prenatal choline deficiency is associated with poor performance in certain cognitive tasks. The mechanism by which choline influence...

Abnormal choline metabolism serves as a marker associated with oncogenesis and tumour progression. 11Cand 18F-labeled choline are positron emission tomography (PET) tracers used to study choline uptake. Nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy (NMRS) can detect choline and choline metabolites non-invasively; increased levels of these compounds serve as biomarkers of transformation, staging and r...

twenty four primiparous and multiparous holstein cows on early lactation, beginning five weeks postpartum, were used for four weeks to investigate the effects of supplemention of rumen-protected choline (rpc) or vitamin e on milk yield, milk composition, dry matter intake, body condition score and body weight. the cows were randomly assigned to one of the following treatments: i)no supplement (...

The net uptake and output of plasma unesterified choline, glycerophosphocholine, phosphocholine and lipid choline by organs of the conscious chronically catheterized sheep were measured. There was significant production of plasma unesterified choline by the upper- and lower-body regions and the alimentary tract and uptake by the liver, lungs and kidneys. The upper- and lower-body regions draine...

Most sequenced bacteria possess mechanisms to import choline and glycine betaine (GB) into the cytoplasm. The primary role of choline in bacteria appears to be as the precursor to GB, and GB is thought to primarily act as a potent osmoprotectant. Choline and GB may play accessory roles in shaping microbial communities, based on their limited availability and ability to enhance survival under st...

Rat liver mitochondria possess a specific choline transporter in the inner membrane. The transporter shows saturable kinetics at high membrane potential with a Km of 220 microM and a Vmax of 0.4 nmol/mg of protein/min at pH 7.0 and 25 degrees C. At physiological concentrations of choline, the rate of choline uptake by the transporter shows a linear dependence on membrane potential; uptake is di...

1. Rapid choline oxidation and the onset of P(i)-induced swelling by liver mitochondria, incubated in a sucrose medium at or above pH7.0, required the addition of both P(i) and an uncoupling agent. Below pH7.0, P(i) alone was required for rapid choline oxidation and swelling. 2. Choline oxidation was inhibited by each of several reagents that also inhibited P(i)-induced swelling under similar c...

Choline synthesis in the rat is intimated by the fact that methionine can replace choline in preventing fatty livers (l), and by the observation that labeled methyl groups can be transferred from methionine to choline (2). However, the development of fatty livers (3) and of hemorrhagic kidneys (4) and the restricted growth (5, 6) in rats on low choline diets all suggest that preformed choline m...

BACKGROUND Elevated concentrations of homocysteine in blood may be an independent risk factor for the development of atherosclerosis. Elevated homocysteine concentrations can be caused by decreased methylation of homocysteine to form methionine, as occurs in folate deficiency. A parallel pathway exists for methylation of homocysteine, in which choline, by way of betaine, is the methyl donor. ...

Choline is abundant in association with eukaryotes and plays roles in osmoprotection, thermoprotection, and membrane biosynthesis in many bacteria. Aerobic catabolism of choline is widespread among soil proteobacteria, particularly those associated with eukaryotes. Catabolism of choline as a carbon, nitrogen, and/or energy source may play important roles in association with eukaryotes, includin...