Disturbances in Oxidative Metabolism in Choline Deficiency

Abstract

THE common symptoms in rats on a choline-deficient diet are, as is well known, fatty liver, impeded growth, and in young animals renal hæmorrhages (for references see Best¹). There has been discussion as to whether the vitamin character of choline is due only to its content of labile methyl groups, or if the lipotropic action has a more specific mechanism. The experiments reported below show that an impairment of oxidative metabolism is an early symptom in choline deficiency.