Diurnal pattern of choline concentrations in serum of pigs as influenced by dietary choline or lecithin intake

Athletes especially experience a significant decrease in plasma choline con centrations during exercise which can be compensated in part by consumption of lecithin, a natural source of choline. In addition, the effect of lecit hin on plasma choline concentrations in humans is obviously considerably gr eater and more prolonged than that of an equivalent amount of choline salts . Serum choline acts as a precursor for the synthesis of acetylcholine, whi ch, in turn, acts as a neurotransmitter. The effect of dietary choline deri ved from either choline chloride or lecithin on the diurnal pattern of free choline concentrations in serum was studied using the pig as a potential m odel for humans. Six barrows, average initial body weight 120 kg, were fitted with permanent catheters in the jugular vein to determine the diurnal pattern of serum ch oline concentrations as affected by dietary choline or lecithin intake. The pigs were fed two semi-purified diets twice daily (1,500 g each meal) that contained corn, casein and a mineral-vitamin premix supplemented with equa l amounts of choline (480 mg/kg) from either choline chloride or lecithin ( BIOFOSFATIN(R)). The diets supplemented with choline were fed at 08.00 h in the morning and the experiment was carried out according to a 3 x 2 cross- over design. All pigs received the basal diet that contained 450 mg/kg chol ine at the evening feeding (20.00 h). Following an adaptation period of 6 d , blood was collected on d 7; 0.5 h before the morning feeding and 1, 2, 4, 6, 8, 10 and 12 h postprandially. The determination of serum choline conce ntrations was carried out by tandem-mass spectroscopy. There were no differences (p >0.05) between the two diurnal patterns of the serum choline concentrations. Both diurnal patterns showed a postprandial peak at 0.5 h (2.71 mg/l for choline chloride and 2.35 mg/l for lecithin su pplementation) and decreased after 2 h postprandially to the preprandial co ncentrations. In conclusion, there were no differences (p >0.05) in the diu rnal patterns of serum choline concentrations in pigs after consumption of dietary choline chloride or lecithin, which is in contrast to corresponding studies in humans.