Choline: An Essential Nutrient

Choline plays an important role in preventing heart disease. Choline is needed for the normal development of brain tissue during fetal development ...
1

. Origin:
- Choline is found in the form of phosphatidylcholine (or lecithin) in the cell membrane and in sphingomyelin, an important component of the myelin layer surrounding nerve fibers.
- Acetylcholine, an important neurotransmitter, is also a substance related to choline.
- Choline is also found in the liver, playing a role in making methionine and lipoprotein
2.



Functions:
- Choline has a role in creating the structure and function of cell membranes. As part of the sphingomyelin that makes up the myelin sheath, choline contributes to nerve fiber protection and enhances nerve conduction function.
- Choline is a precursor to betaine, the osmotic substance used by the kidneys to control water and electrolyte balance.
In the liver, choline is a methyl radical source to create lipoproteins, which are important neurotransmitters involved in the muscle's information storage and control center.
- Choline is the active component of alveolar surfactant. Neonatal surfactant deficiency can lead to respiratory distress syndrome in preterm infants.
Consequences of choline deficiency
- Symptoms of acute choline deficiency in animals include: fatty liver, liver cell death, liver cell cancer Long-term choline deficiency in mice causes hepatocellular carcinoma.




- Human studies show that choline deficiency easily causes liver damage. Fatty liver is associated with the deficiency of phosphotidylcholine (lecithine) necessary for the synthesis of VLDL and the removal of triacylglycerol (triglycerides) from the liver. Patients who receive a complete intravenous feeding for 4 weeks without choline will develop fatty liver and high levels of serum alkaline phosphatase, alanine aminotransferase, aspartate aminotransfarase, indicating a choline demand for The patient was exclusively fed intravenously.
In human studies, both linguistic and visual memory were impaired in patients receiving long term parenteral nutrition, but improvements were seen with choline supplementation.
3. The role of choline in the body:
- The function of choline is to provide methyl radicals for the synthesis of methionine from homocysteine. This role is especially important when the body is deficient in folate. Numerous studies have demonstrated that both methionine and folic acid contribute to the prevention of neural tube defects such as cleft spina bifida and cerebral hernias by providing methyl groups for metabolism or lowering homocysteine levels.




- Choline also plays an important role in preventing heart disease. By participating in the synthesis of methionine from homocysteine amino acid, this is a known risk factor for cardiovascular disease, thus preventing homocysteine accumulation in the body. In addition, lecithin (phosphatidylcholine) is also used to lower cholesterol levels to create the lecithin-cholesterol acyltransferase enzyme involved in removing cholesterol from body tissue.
- Choline is necessary for the normal development of brain tissue during fetal development. Chicks that were given choline during brain formation were recorded to have better memory and to be smarter until old..

. Dịch vụ: Thiết kế website, quảng cáo google, đăng ký website bộ công thương uy tín