668 VI. OCCURRENCE OF LIPIDS IN THE ANIMAL 



Baxter and Campbell 762 demonstrated that the renal lesions and mortal- 

 ity caused by a purified diet deficient in choline could largely be prevented 

 by supplementing the diet with crystalline aureomycin. This treatment 

 somewhat increased the choline level in liver and kidney tissue, as well as in 

 the feces. 



(d') The Effect of Choline Intake on Acetylcholine Formation: Since 

 acetylcholine plays such a vital role in the transmission of nerve impulses 

 (see page 26), it would seem probable that a decreased efficiency in this 

 function might occur in choline deficiency. 763 Solandt and Best 764 were 

 able to demonstrate that this was the case. Whereas a given stimulation 

 of the vagus nerve produced a reduction of the heart rate to 30% of the 

 normal value in rats on a normal diet, it was reduced to 45% in rats on a 

 choline-low diet when a choline supplement was being administered, and 

 only to 75% in rats on the choline-low diet which was unsupplemented. 

 The action of the vagus nerve on the heart muscle in the deficient group 

 was increased after the intravenous injection of choline. It is believed 

 that this function of choline proceeds entirely independently of the lipotro- 

 pic action. 



(e') The Effect of Choline on Lactation: Sure 765 reported that choline is 

 an essential component in the diet of the suckling rat; it is likewise re- 

 quired after weaning. When lactating rats were deprived of choline, their 

 young stopped growing within thirteen days, and died shortly thereafter, 

 having developed a characteristic paralysis. The deficiency was over- 

 come by the administration of a dose of 15 mg. of choline daily to the moth- 

 ers, or of 5 mg. to the mothers together with 10 mg. to the young each day. 

 The high requirement of the weanling rats for choline is a reflection of the 

 increased rate of phospholipid turnover during this period, as shown by 

 Sinclair 766 and by Fries et al. 767 It has been demonstrated by Artom and 

 Fishman 768 that, when a choline-low diet is given, choline must be adminis- 

 tered if a normal concentration of choline phospholipid is to be maintained 

 in the liver of the newly weaned rat. 



(/') The Effect of Choline on Perosis: Perosis, also referred to as "slipped 

 tendon," which occurs in chicks, results from a dietary deficiency. 

 Although one cause of perosis has been shown to be a manganese 



762 J. H. Baxter and H. Campbell, Proc. Soc. Exptl. Biol. Med., 80, 415-419 (1952). 



763 D. Y. Solandt, Can. Chem. Process Inds., 23, 280 (1939). 



764 D. Y. Solandt and C. H. Best, Nature, 144, 376 (1939). 

 768 B. Sure, J. Nutrition, 19, 71-76 (1940). 



766 R. G. Sinclair, /. Biol. Chem., 88, 575-587 (1930). 



767 B. A. Fries, G. W. Changus, and I. L. Chaikoff, J. Biol. Chem., 132, 23-34 (1940). 



768 C. Artom and W. H. Fishman, J. Biol. Chem., 148, 423-430 (1943). 



