Nutritional Importance of Choline for Brain Development

Abstract

Choline is a dietary component essential for normal function of all cells. In 1998 the National Academy of Sciences, USA, issued a report identifying choline as a required nutrient for humans and recommended daily intake amounts. In ongoing studies we are finding that men have a higher requirement than do postmenopausal women, who in turn need more than premenopausal women. Pregnancy and lactation are periods when maternal reserves of choline are depleted. At the same time, the availability of choline for normal development of brain is critical. When rat pups received choline supplements (in utero or during the second week of life), their brain function is changed, resulting in lifelong memory enhancement. This change in memory function appears to be due to changes in the development of the memory center (hippocampus) in brain. These changes are so important that investigators can pick out the groups of animals whose mothers had extra choline even when these animals are elderly. Thus, memory function in the aged is, in part, determined by what mother ate. Foods highest in total choline concentrations per 100 g were beef liver (418 mg), chicken liver (290 mg), and eggs (251 mg). We suggest that choline-rich foods are an important component of the diet and that especially during pregnancy it would be prudent to include them as part of a healthy diet.

Prenatal choline supplementation attenuates neuropathological response to status epilepticus in the adult rat hippocampus

“…These data also suggest that prenatal choline deficiency may make offspring more vulnerable to the deleterious consequences of seizures, though this remains to be determined. While estimates of normal human consumption of choline is about 425-550 mg/day, intake by pregnant woman is frequently less than half this amount (Zeisel, 2004;2006), and menopausal status and some genetic polymorphisms of choline metabolism may even further compromise choline availability in humans (da Costa et al, 2006), suggesting that our findings may be of clinical importance to women who may be more vulnerable to choline deficiency. Histopathology of the hippocampus 16 days following KA-induced SE in CON (B) and SUP (C) rats.…”

“…Prenatal and early postnatal choline supplementation has also been shown to protect against impairments in performance on hippocampal-dependent tasks caused by aging (Meck et al, 1988(Meck et al, , 1989Meck & Williams, 2003;McCann et al, 2006) or neonatal alcohol exposure (Thomas et al, 2004(Thomas et al, , 2007Wagner & Hunt, 2006). While the mechanism by which prenatal choline supplementation confers neuroprotection is not fully understood, choline is a vital nutrient important for several biological functions: acetylcholine synthesis, building biological membranes, cell signaling, and methyl donation (Blusztajn, 1998;Zeisel, 2004Zeisel, , 2006. Prenatal choline supplementation also enhances several features of adult hippocampal plasticity known to influence learning and memory function, such as increased baseline levels of neurogenesis, brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) (Glenn et al, 2007) and nerve growth factor (NGF) (Sandstrom et al, 2002); a reduced threshold to induce long-term potentiation (Pyapali et al, 1998;Jones et al, 1999); and enhanced depolarizationinduced mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) and cAMP-response element binding protein (CREB) activation (Mellott et al, 2004).…”

Phosphatidylcholine functional foods and nutraceuticals: A potential approach to prevent non‐alcoholic fatty liver disease

“…1). PC can be formed endogenously from phosphatidylethanolamine, a reaction catalysed by phosphatidylethanolamine-N-methyltransferase (PEMT) [15]. Interestingly, PC is responsible for the de novo synthesis of choline, as PC formation can result in the release of new choline moieties.…”

“…Betaine (trimethylglycine) is an important nutrient which is either synthesized de novo or obtained from food sources such as wheat, spinach, shellfish and sugar beets [17]. Betaine serves as a methyl donor in the betaine homocysteine methyltransferase (BMHT) reaction where it provides a methyl group to homocysteine in the formation of methionine [15]. Methionine can then form S-adenosylmethionine (SAM), the methyl donor responsible for methylation of deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA), ribonucleic acid (RNA) and proteins.…”

Choline Redistribution during Adaptation to Choline Deprivation

“…During choline deprivation, no obvious phenotype was observed in organs other than liver in CD-Pemt Ϫ/Ϫ mice (6). The brain is an important organ for choline metabolism, because choline is required for biosynthesis of acetylcholine for neurotransmission as well as for the biosynthesis of PC (10). Interestingly, the brains in both CD-Pemt Ϫ/Ϫ and -Mdr2…”