METABOLISM 



27. E. L. Tatum, M. G. Ritchey, E. V. Cowdry and L. F. Wicks, /. 

 Biol. Chem., 1946, 163, 675 ; M. G. Ritchey, L. F. Wicks and 

 E. L. Tatum, ibid., 1947, 171, 51. 



7. EFFECT OF CHOLINE DEFICffiNCY IN 2VIAN 



There appears to be no case on record of choline deficiency in man, 

 but since choline exhibited such a marked lipotropic action in animals, 

 it is not surprising that it should have been tried out in the treatment 

 of acute and chronic diseases of the liver in man. Several therapeutic 

 trials of choline in hepatic cirrhosis have been made but as none of 

 the experiments was adequately controlled, they do not provide a 

 conclusive answer to the question of how far choline deficiency is 

 responsible for this condition. G. O. Broun and R. O. Muether ^ 

 treated four cases with i g. of choline chloride daily for up to two 

 years, whilst A. H. Russakoff and H, Blum berg ^ gave up to 6 g. per 

 day to six cases, with ill-effects in only one case. J. S. Richardson ^ 

 gave 1-5 g. of choline chloride per day for eight days to sixteen 

 patients with infective hepatitis, but the treatment was ineffective. 



Moosnick et al.^ reported that a refractory case of pernicious anaemia 

 was cured by the intravenous injection of i g, of choline chloride 

 daily, and suggested that fatty infiltration of the liver had prevented 

 the formation of the liver principle and that when the infiltration was 

 removed by the choline the ability of the liver to produce the anti- 

 pernicious anaemia principle was restored. 



References to Section 7 



1. G. O. Broun and R. O. Muether, /. Amer. Med. Assoc, 1942, 118, 



1403. 



2. A. H. Russakoff and H. Blumberg, Ann. Int. Med., 1944, 21, 848. 



3. J. S. Richardson, Brit. Med. J., 1945, 2, 156. 



4. F. B, Moosnick, E. M. Schleicher and W. E. Peterson, /. Clin. 



Invest., 1945, 24, 278. 



8. 2V1ETABOLISM OF CHOLINE 



Very little choline is excreted in the urine or faeces. Thus, after 

 administration of 40 g. of the chloride per day for six days to sheep, 

 only 0*7 to 2-5 % of the ingested choline was recovered from the 

 urine ; there was no accumulation of choline in the liver, kidney or 

 plasma. 1 Similarly, dogs fed 5 g. of choline chloride per day for six 

 days excreted only 0-5 % in the urine and there was no increase in the 

 plasma concentration. 



The total choline excreted by humans in the faeces, urine and 



38 593 



