The Physiological Role of Choline in Guinea Pigs

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Abstract
The physiological role of choline was investigated by omitting choline from the diet of young guinea pigs. This resulted in a marked decrease in growth, with death of 68% of the animals within 4 to 5 weeks. However, there was no accumulation of liver lipid in contrast with the results of previous studies with rats. With feeding a choline-deficient diet to guinea pigs, the content of various choline derivatives in the liver decreased significantly from the onset of the experiment, along with a decrease of lipid choline in the carcass. These decreases were the major effects of the choline deficiency, with the decrease in liver glycogen preceding that of the carcass lipid. However, injecting the deficient animals with choline chloride during any stage of the experiment reversed these effects without altering the food intake. These observations demonstrate that the various effects described resulted from a deficiency of choline itself. Feeding a choline-deficient diet resulted in an apparent decrease in absorption by the animals. When a decrease in food intake occurred, this produced an acceleration of the effects described. It is postulated that the high mortality in the younger animals might have resulted from severe damage occurring in that period.

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