Depression of Lipogenesis in Choline-deficient Guinea Pigs and its Possible Mechanisms

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Abstract
Feeding guinea pigs a choline-deficient diet resulted in marked changes of cell constituents and their phospholipid composition, indicating that the animals have only a small capacity for synthesis of choline. Such changes were linked with depression of lipogenesis and inhibition of glucose permeability. When choline chloride was injected into the deficient animals, phospholipid synthesis was greatly increased. The inhibition of glucose permeability was marked in adipose tissue. Adipose tissue of choline-deficient animals did not respond to insulin, but treatment with choline chloride reactivated the response. Possibly a decrease of phospholipid synthesis and an insufficient supply of glucose in choline deficiency results in accumulation of free fatty acid or acyl-CoA, which inhibits fatty acid synthesis. After choline administration, an increase in the incorporation of fatty acids into phospholipid and the activation of glucose permeability might stimulate synthesis of fatty acids. The levels of intracellular glucose or glucose metabolite would then be related to triglyceride synthesis and secondly to fatty acid synthesis.