QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced] Author: Keyword(s): Year:  Vol:  Page:

This Article Full Text (PDF) Purchase Article View Shopping Cart Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by McMahon, K. E. Articles by Farrell, P. M. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by McMahon, K. E. Articles by Farrell, P. M.

Effect of Choline Deficiency on Lung Phospholipid Concentrations in the Rat

Departments of Nutritional Sciences and Pediatrics, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI 53792

Lung surfactant and nonsurfactant phospholipid concentrations were analyzed in relation to choline status in male rats fed a choline-deficient (CD) or choline-supplemented (CS) diet over an 8-d period. On the first day plasma choline concentrations were significantly lower (11.5 ± 0.9 µM) in rats fed the CD diet than in those fed the CS diet (16.1 ± 1.2 µM). This relationship continued for the duration of the study. Hepatic phosphatidylcholine/phosphatidylethanolamine (PC/PE) ratios were significantly lower after d 1 of the CD diet, further decreased on d 2 (1.09 ± 0.04) and remained low through d 8. Only on d 4 were lung surfactant PC and total phospholipid concentrations lower in rats fed the CD diet than in those fed the CS diet. The composition of surfactant, determined by the ratio of PC to total phospholipids, did not change. On both d 4 and d 8 the PC/PE ratios in the non-surfactant fraction were lower in rats fed the CD diet than in those fed the CS diet. This shift in PC/PE ratio in the lung is similar to the PC/PE shift in the liver associated with dietary choline deficiency. The altered lung phospholipid concentrations in the nonsurfactant (residual) fraction on d 4 and d 8 suggest an adaptation in the lung's phospholipid metabolism to replenish the physiologically essential surfactant PC.

KEY WORDS: • choline • lung metabolism • phospholipids • phosphatidylcholine • rats

¹ Present address: Nutrition Affairs Department, Hershey Foods Corporation Technical Center, Hershey, PA 17033.

² This work was supported in part by Pulmonary Specialized Center of Research (SCOR) grant P50-HL-27348 and Clinical Nutrition Research Unit (CNRU) grant 5 P30 AM-26659 from the National Institutes of Health and by a Foremost-McKesson Fellowship awarded to K. McMahon by the American Institute of Nutrition.

Manuscript received 5 February 1985. Revision accepted 5 February 1986.