Abstract
Choline keeps a crucial position in the metabolism and in the function of mammalian brain because it is a cornerstone for the synthesis of both acetylcholine, one of the most significant transmitters in the brain, and phosphatidylcholine, one of the backbones in biological membranes. The concentration of choline, which in rat brain is not higher than 28 nmol/g, is amazingly low and the turnover time of 45 sec is very high at least in comparison with the very large amount of 20,000 nmol/g of choline containing phospholipids with a turnover time of 17 hrs and also with regard to the very high turnover of acetylcholine depending on functional demands.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Preview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Aquilonius SM, Ceder G, Lying-Tunell U, Malmlund HO, Schuberth J (1975) The arteriovenous difference of choline across the brain of man. Brain Res 99:430–433
Blusztajn JK, Wurtman RJ (1981) Choline biosynthesis by a preparation enriched in synaptosomes from rat brain. Nature 290:417–418
Blusztajn JK, Zeisel SH, Wurtman RJ (1979) Synthesis of lecithin (phophatidylcholine) from phosphatidylethanolamine in bovine brain. Brain /tes 179:319–327
Bremer J, Greenberg DM (1961) A methyl transferring enzyme system of microsomes in the biosynthesis of lecithin (phosphatidylcholine). Biochim Biophys Acta 46:205–216
Choi RL, Freeman JJ, Jenden DJ (1975) Kinetics of plasma choline in relation to turnover of brain choline and formation of acetylcholine. J Neurochem 24:735–741
Crews FF, Hirata F, Axelrod J (1980) Identification and properties of methyl transferases that synthesize phosphatidylcholine in rat brain synaptosomes. J Neurochem 34:1491–98
Dross K, Kewitz H (1966) Der Einbau von i.v. zugeführtem Chol in in das Acetylcholin des Gehirns. Naunyn-Schmiedebergs Arch Pharmacol 255:10
Dross K, Kewitz H (1972) Concentration and origin of choline in the rat brain. Naunyn-Schmiedebergs Arch Pharmacol 274:91–106
Hattori H, Bansal VS, Orihel D, Kanfer JN (1984) Presence of phospholipid-N-methyltransferases and base-exchange enzymes in rat central nervous system axolemma-enriched fractions. J Neurochem 43:1018–1024
Hattori H., Kanfer JN (1984) Synaptosomal phospholipase D: potential role in providing choline for acetylcholine synthesis. Biochem Biophys Res Commun 24:945–949
Illingworth DR, Portman OW (1972) The uptake and metabolism of plasma lysophosphatidylcholine in vivo by the brain of squirrel monkeys. Biochem J 130:557–567
Kanfer JN (1972) Base exchange reactions in the phospholipids in rat brain particles. J Lipid Res 13:468–476
Kanfer JN (1982) The base exchange enzymes and phospholipase D of rat brain microsomes. In: Horrocks, L.A., Ansell, G.B., and Porcellati, G., (eds) Phospholipids in the nervous system, Vol I. Metabolism. Raven Press, New York
Kewitz H, Dross K and Pleul O (1973) Choline and its metabolic successors in brain. In: Genazzani E, Herken H (ed) Central Nervous system. Studies on metabolic regulation and function. Springer Verlag, Berlin Heidelberg New York
Kewitz H, Pleul O (1975) Synthesis of choline from ethanolamine in rat brain. Proc Natl Acad Sci U.S.A. 73:2181–2185
Kewitz H, Pleul O, Dross K, Schwarzkopf T (1975) The supply of choline in rat brain. In: Waser P (ed) Cholinergic Mechanisms, Raven Press New York
Massarelli R, Dainou F, Louis JC, Dreyfus H, Mozzi R, Porcellati G, Freysz L (1982) Choline synthesis in neurons and glial cells. In: Horrocks, L.A., Ansell, G.B., and Porcellati, G. (ed) Phospholipids in the Nervous System, Vol.1 Metabolism. Raven Press New York, p 348
Mozzi R, Goracci G, Siepi D, Francescangeli E, Andreoli V, Horrocks LA, Porcellati G (1982) Phospholipid synthesis by interconversion reactions in brain tissue. In: Horrocks, L.A., Ansell, G.B., and Porcellati, G. (ed) Phospholipids in the Nervous System, Vol. I Metabolism. Raven Press New York, p 1–12
Mozzi R, Porcellati G (1979) N-methylation of phosphatidyl ethanolamine in rat brain. FEBS Lett 100:363–366
Pardridge WM, Cornford EM, Braun LD, Oldendorf WH (1979) Transport of choline and choline analogues through the blood-brain barrier. In: Barbeau A, Growdon JH, Wurtman RJ (ed) Nutrition and the brain, Vol 5, Raven Press, New York
Saito M, Kanfer JN (1975) Phosphatidohydrolase activity in a solubilized preparation from rat brain particulate fraction. Arch Biochem Biophys 169:318–323
Zeisel SH (1985) Formation of unesterified choline by rat brain. Biochim Biophys Acta 835:331–343
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 1993 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg
About this paper
Cite this paper
Kewitz, H., Pleul, O. (1993). Disposition of Choline for the Brain. In: Massarelli, R., Horrocks, L.A., Kanfer, J.N., Löffelholz, K. (eds) Phospholipids and Signal Transmission. Nato ASI Series, vol 70. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-662-02922-0_25
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-662-02922-0_25
Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg
Print ISBN: 978-3-662-02924-4
Online ISBN: 978-3-662-02922-0
eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive