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Synthesis of Phospholipids and Deoxyribonucleic Acid in Choline-supplemented and Choline-deficient Weanling Rats¹

Department of Animal Science, Agricultural Experiment Station, Auburn University, Auburn, Alabama

The incorporation of choline-1,2-¹⁴C into phospholipid and thymidine-2-¹⁴C into DNA of kidneys, liver and several other tissues has been measured in choline-supplemented and choline-deficient male, weanling rats. One hour after injection the kidneys had incorporated eight times as much labeled choline as heart tissue and approximately three times as much as either spleen or intestine (per unit weight). The liver was the most active tissue studied; however, the kidneys incorporated choline into phospholipid at a rate significantly faster than the other nonhepatic tissues measured. In choline-deficient rats, the specific activity (disintegration per minute per milligram phospholipid) of heart, spleen and intestine increased; liver decreased and kidney remained the same. Rats fed a choline-deficient diet incorporated more thymidine per unit weight into the DNA fraction of the kidneys than rats receiving the supplemented diet. The increased incorporation of thymidine in the choline-deficient rats is probably due to increased cellular synthesis as the kidneys become enlarged. The radioactivity in the acid-soluble nucleotide pool in the kidneys was not altered by choline deficiency.

Manuscript received 9 October 1968.