Neuroprotective Actions of Dietary Choline
Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Boston University School of Medicine, 72 East Concord Street, Boston, MA 02118, USA
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Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Nutrients 2017, 9(8), 815; https://doi.org/10.3390/nu9080815
Received: 20 June 2017
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Revised: 21 July 2017
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Accepted: 25 July 2017
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Published: 28 July 2017
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Dietary Choline)
Choline is an essential nutrient for humans. It is a precursor of membrane phospholipids (e.g., phosphatidylcholine (PC)), the neurotransmitter acetylcholine, and via betaine, the methyl group donor S-adenosylmethionine. High choline intake during gestation and early postnatal development in rat and mouse models improves cognitive function in adulthood, prevents age-related memory decline, and protects the brain from the neuropathological changes associated with Alzheimer’s disease (AD), and neurological damage associated with epilepsy, fetal alcohol syndrome, and inherited conditions such as Down and Rett syndromes. These effects of choline are correlated with modifications in histone and DNA methylation in brain, and with alterations in the expression of genes that encode proteins important for learning and memory processing, suggesting a possible epigenomic mechanism of action. Dietary choline intake in the adult may also influence cognitive function via an effect on PC containing eicosapentaenoic and docosahexaenoic acids; polyunsaturated species of PC whose levels are reduced in brains from AD patients, and is associated with higher memory performance, and resistance to cognitive decline.
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Keywords:
Alzheimer’s disease; autism; brain; choline; epilepsy; DNA methylation; memory; nutrition; pregnancy
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MDPI and ACS Style
Blusztajn, J.K.; Slack, B.E.; Mellott, T.J. Neuroprotective Actions of Dietary Choline. Nutrients 2017, 9, 815. https://doi.org/10.3390/nu9080815
AMA Style
Blusztajn JK, Slack BE, Mellott TJ. Neuroprotective Actions of Dietary Choline. Nutrients. 2017; 9(8):815. https://doi.org/10.3390/nu9080815
Chicago/Turabian StyleBlusztajn, Jan Krzysztof, Barbara E. Slack, and Tiffany J. Mellott. 2017. "Neuroprotective Actions of Dietary Choline" Nutrients 9, no. 8: 815. https://doi.org/10.3390/nu9080815
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