Skip to main content
NCBI home page
The Journal of Physiology logoLink to The Journal of Physiology
. 1974 Jun;239(3):459–476. doi: 10.1113/jphysiol.1974.sp010578

The distribution in the rabbit of choline administered by injection or infusion

J E Gardiner, M C E Gwee
PMCID: PMC1330954  PMID: 4854729

Abstract

1. The concentration of choline in plasma, erythrocytes, skeletal muscle, heart, lung, liver, small intestine and kidneys and the changes that follow the injection or infusion of choline have been measured in rabbits anaesthetized with pentobarbitone.

2. The concentration of choline in the plasma of arterial blood was 11·8 ± 0·6 n-mole/ml. and in the erythrocytes 28·4 ± 1·3 n-mole/ml. blood.

3. All tissues contained a higher concentration of free choline than did plasma. The values range from 19·1 ± 2·2 n-mole/g in skeletal muscle to 500 ± 25 n-mole/g in the kidney.

4. In order of their choline concentrations the tissues were intestine (duodenal end) > kidney > intestine (caecal end) > liver > lung > brain > heart > erythrocytes > (blood) > skeletal muscle > plasma, while in order of the contribution to the total body choline they were liver > intestine > skeletal muscle > (blood) > kidney > erythrocytes > lung > brain > plasma > heart. The total free choline determined by these analyses was between 30-40 μmole/kg body weight, about one third being present in the liver.

5. The choline content of the small intestine varied along its length. The lowest amount being present in the portion adjoining the caecum.

6. Within 1 min of the injection of choline 100 or 300 μmole/kg, 70-90% had left the circulation. The proportionate loss was higher after 100 μmole/kg than after 300 μmole/kg.

7. The loss following 300 μmole/kg was increased if that dose were preceded by a dose of 100 μmole/kg 40 min earlier; this suggests some additional disposal mechanism(s) had been activated by the first dose.

8. Three minutes after the injection of choline 300 μmole/kg, about 60% was present as free choline in the tissues studied. The order of the concentration increases was kidneys > liver > muscle > lung > small intestine (caecal end) > heart > intestine > small intestine (duodenal end) > brain.

9. Forty minutes after the injection of choline 300 μmole/kg, only 11% could be accounted for as free choline. Only the levels in the kidney, liver, muscle and lung were significantly above normal at this time.

10. Infusion of choline 0·8 μmole/kg. min or greater produced rises in plasma choline that corresponded to a clearance of 32 ml. plasma/kg. min.

11. After the infusion of 300 μmole/kg over a period of 1 hr, raised levels of choline were detected in all tissues assayed, but the amount found accounted for only 14% of the choline administered. The concentrations in the kidney, liver and lung were similar to those found 40 min after the injection of 300 μmole/kg.

12. There was no change in the concentration of choline in the erythrocytes after the injection of choline 100 or 300 μmole/kg, nor during the infusion of choline at the rate of 5 μmole/kg. min for 1 hr.

13. The plasma volume appeared to be affected by the injection of the large doses of choline; after choline 300 μmole/kg the plasma volume was reduced. No effect on the plasma volume was observed during the infusion of the same dose.

Full text

PDF
459

Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

  1. Ansell G. B., Spanner S. Studies on the origin of choline in the brain of the rat. Biochem J. 1971 May;122(5):741–750. doi: 10.1042/bj1220741. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  2. Ansell G. B., Spanner S. The metabolism of [Me-14C]choline in the brain of the rat in vivo. Biochem J. 1968 Nov;110(2):201–206. doi: 10.1042/bj1100201. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  3. BLIGH J. The level of free choline in plasma. J Physiol. 1952 Jun;117(2):234–240. doi: 10.1113/jphysiol.1952.sp004743. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  4. BLIGH J. The role of the liver and the kidneys in the maintenance of the level of free choline in plasma. J Physiol. 1953 Apr 28;120(1-2):53–62. doi: 10.1113/jphysiol.1953.sp004872. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  5. Bjørnstad P., Bremer J. In vivo studies on pathways for the biosynthesis of lecithin in the rat. J Lipid Res. 1966 Jan;7(1):38–45. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  6. Diamond I. Choline metabolism in brain. The role of choline transport and the effects of phenobarbital. Arch Neurol. 1971 Apr;24(4):333–339. doi: 10.1001/archneur.1971.00480340065007. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  7. GURR M. I., POVER W. F., HAWTHORNE J. N., FRAZER A. C. Phospholipid composition and turnover in rat intestinal mucosa during fat absorption. Nature. 1963 Jan 5;197:79–79. doi: 10.1038/197079a0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  8. Gardiner J. E., Domer F. R. Movement of choline between the blood and cerebrospinal fluid in the cat. Arch Int Pharmacodyn Ther. 1968 Oct;175(2):482–501. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  9. Gardiner J. E., Gwee M. C. The biological estimation of free choline in tissues. J Pharm Pharmacol. 1972 May;24(5):423–424. doi: 10.1111/j.2042-7158.1972.tb09025.x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  10. Gardiner J. E., Paton W. D. The control of the plasma choline concentration in the cat. J Physiol. 1972 Dec;227(1):71–86. doi: 10.1113/jphysiol.1972.sp010020. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  11. Gardiner J. E. The extraction of azovan blue from precipitated plasma proteins. J Pharm Pharmacol. 1969 Jan;21(1):18–20. doi: 10.1111/j.2042-7158.1969.tb08123.x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  12. Gwee M. C., Lim H. S. Hydrocortisone and the concentration of choline in the plasma of rodents. Br J Pharmacol. 1972 May;45(1):133–134. doi: 10.1111/j.1476-5381.1972.tb09586.x. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  13. Martin K. Concentrative accumulation of choline by human erythrocytes. J Gen Physiol. 1968 Apr;51(4):497–516. doi: 10.1085/jgp.51.4.497. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  14. SCHUELER F. W. A new group of respiratory paralyzants. I. The "hemicholiniums". J Pharmacol Exp Ther. 1955 Oct;115(2):127–143. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  15. Shaw F. H. The estimation of choline and acetylcholine. Biochem J. 1938 Jun;32(6):1002–1007. doi: 10.1042/bj0321002. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  16. Spitzer H. L., Norman J. R., Morrison K. In vivo studies of [Me-3H]choline and [1,2-14C2]choline incorporation into lung and liver lecithins. Biochim Biophys Acta. 1969 Apr 29;176(3):584–590. doi: 10.1016/0005-2760(69)90224-0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

Articles from The Journal of Physiology are provided here courtesy of The Physiological Society

RESOURCES