Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-7cvxr Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-21T12:12:28.942Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Fluctuations of Free Choline Levels in Plasma of Alzheimer Patients Receiving Lecithin: Preliminary Observations

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  29 January 2018

Paz Chuaqui
Affiliation:
Institute of Psychiatry, De Crespigny Park, Denmark Hill, London SE5
Raymond Levy
Affiliation:
The Maudsley Hospital, Denmark Hill, London SE5

Summary

Plasmas of 12 patients currently taking part in a double-blind trial of lecithin in senile or presenile dementia of Alzheimer type were analysed for plasma choline levels at fixed intervals during lecithin treatment. The values were not maintained at a constant level and showed a decline after one or two months of treatment, often followed by a subsequent rise. Possible explanations for this observation are given, and its significance to the treatment of dementia discussed.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © Royal College of Psychiatrists, 1982 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Barrett, M. C. & Dawson, A. P. (1975) The reaction of choline dehydrogenase with some electron acceptors. Biochemical Journal, 151, 677–83.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Benvoize, E. B. & Jerram, T. (1979) Choline in Alzheimer's Disease. New England Journal of Medicine, 301, 330.Google Scholar
Bowen, D. M., Smith, C. B., White, P. & Dawson, A. N. (1976) Neurotransmitter-related enzymes and indices of hypoxia in senile dementia and other abiotrophies. Brain, 99, 459–96.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Bowen, D. M., Spillane, J. A., Curzon, G., Meier-Ruge, W., White, P., Goodhardt, M. J., Iwangoff, P. & Davison, A. N. (1979) Accelerated ageing or selective neuronal loss as an important cause of dementia. Lancet, i, 1114.Google Scholar
Boyd, W. D., Graham-White, J., Blackwood, G., Glen, I. & McQueen, J. (1977) Clinical effects of choline in Alzheimer senile dementia. Lancet, ii, 711.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Chamberlain, S., Robinson, N., Walker, J., Smith, C., Benton, S., Kennard, C., Swash, M., Kilkenny, B. & Bradbury, S. (1980) Effect of lecithin on disability and plasma free-choline levels in Friedreich's ataxia. Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery and Psychiatry, 43, 843–5.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Christie, J. E., Glen, A. I. M., Yates, C. M., Blackburn, I. M., Shering, A., Jellinek, E. H. & Zeisel, S. (1979) Choline and lecithin effects on CSF Choline levels and on cognitive function in Alzheimer pre-senile dementia. In Alzheimer's Disease: Early Recognition of Potentially Reversible Deficits, pp 163–8 (eds. Glen, A. I. M. and Whalley, L. J.). Edinburgh: Churchill Livingstone.Google Scholar
Christie, J. E., Shering, A., Ferguson, J. & Glen, A. I. M. (1981) Physostigmine and arecoline effects of intravenous infusions in Alzheimer presenile dementia. British Journal of Psychiatry, 138, 4650.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Cohen, E. L. & Wurtman, R. J. (1975) Brain acetylcholine increase after systemic choline administration. Life Sciences, 16, 1095–102.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Comfort, A. (1978) Cholinesterase inhibition in treatment of Alzheimer's dementia. Lancet, i, 659–60.Google Scholar
Davies, P. & Maloney, A. J. (1976) Selective loss of central cholinergic neurons in Alzheimer's disease. Lancet, ii, 1403.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Davis, K. L., Hollister, L. E., Barchas, J. D. & Berger, P. A. (1976) Choline in tardive dyskinesia and Huntington's disease. Life Sciences, 19, 1507–16.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Davis, K. L., Mohs, R. C., Tinklenberg, J. R., Pfefferbaum, A., Hollister, L. E. & Kopell, B. S. (1978) Physostigmine: Improvement of long-term memory processes in normal humans. Science, 201, 272–4.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Drachmann, D. A., Glosser, G., Flemming, P. & Longenecker, G. (1981) Memory decline in the aged: treatment with high dose lecithin. Neurology (Ny), 31, 101.Google Scholar
Etienne, P., Gauthier, S., Johnson, G., Collier, B., Mendis, T., Dastoor, D., Cole, M. & Müller, H. F. (1978) Clinical effects of choline in Alzheimer's disease. Lancet, i, 508–9.Google Scholar
Etienne, P., Gauthier, S., Dastoor, D., Collier, B. & Ratner, J. (1979) Alzheimer's disease: Clinical effect of lecithin treatment. In Alzheimer's Disease: Early Recognition of Potentially Reversible Deficits, pp 173–8 (eds. Glen, A. I. M. and Whalley, L. J.). Edinburgh: Churchill Livingstone.Google Scholar
Gardiner, J. E. & Paton, W. D. M. (1972) The control of the plasma choline concentration in the cat. Journal of Physiology, 227, 7186.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Gauthier, S., Etienne, P., Dastoor, D., Collier, B. & Ludwick, R. (1981) Lack of an effect of a 3 month treatment with lecithin in Alzheimer's disease. Neurology (Ny), 31, 89.Google Scholar
Gelenberg, A. J., Doller-Wojcick, R. N. & Growden, J. H. (1979) Choline and lecithin in the treatment of tardive dyskinesia: preliminary results from a pilot study. American Journal of Psychiatry, 136, 772–6.Google ScholarPubMed
Goldberg, A. M. & McCaman, R. E. (1973) The determination of picomole amounts of acetylcholine in mammalian brain. Journal of Neurochemistry, 20, 18.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Growdon, J. H., Cohen, E. L. & Wurtman, R. J. (1977) Effects of oral choline administration on serum and CSF choline levels in patients with Huntington's disease. Journal of Neurochemistry, 28, 229–30.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Haubrich, D. R., Gerber, N., Plueger, A. B. & Zweig, M. (1981) Tissue choline studied using a simple chemical assay. Journal of Neurochemistry, 36, 1409–17.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Houtsmuller, U. M. T. (1979) Metabolic fate of dietary lecithin. In Nutrition and the Brain, Vol 5, pp 8394 (eds. Barbeau, A., Growden, J. H. and Wurtman, R. J.). New York: Raven Press.Google Scholar
Levy, R. (1978) Choline in Alzheimer's disease. Lancet, ii, 944–5.Google Scholar
Muramoto, O., Sugishita, M., Sugita, H. & Toyokura, Y. (1979) Effect of physostigmine on constructional and memory tasks in Alzheimer's disease. Archives of Neurology, 36, 501–3.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Perry, E. K., Perry, R. H., Blessed, G. & Tomlinson, B. E. (1977a) Necropsy evidence of central cholinergic deficits in senile dementia. Lancet, i, 189.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Perry, E. K., Gibson, P. H., Blessed, G., Perry, R. H. & Tomlinson, B. E. (1977b) Neurotransmitter enzyme abnormalities in senile dementia. Journal of the Neurological Sciences, 34, 247–65.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Perry, E. K., Perry, R. H., Gibson, P. H., Blessed, G. & Tomlinson, B. E. (1977c) A cholinergic connection between normal aging and senile dementia in the human hippocampus. Neuroscience Letters, 6, 85–9.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Perry, E. K., Tomlinson, B. E., Blessed, G., Bergmann, K., Gibson, P. H. & Perry, R. H. (1978) Correlation of cholinergic abnormalities with senile plaques and mental test scores in senile dementia. British Medical Journal, ii, 1457–9.Google Scholar
Peters, B. H. & Levin, H. S. (1979) Effects of physostigmine and lecithin on memory in Alzheimer's disease. Annals of Neurology, 6, 219–21.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Signoret, J. L., Whiteley, A. & L'Hermitte, F. (1978) Influence of choline on amnesia in early Alzheimer's disease. Lancet, ii, 837.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Smith, C. M., Swash, M., Exton-Smith, A. N., Phillips, H. J., Overstall, P. W., Piper, M. E. & Bailey, M. R. (1978) Choline therapy in Alzheimer's disease. Lancet, ii, 318.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Smith, C. M., Swash, M., Exton-Smith, A. N. (1979) Effects of cholinergic drugs on memory in Alzheimer's disease. In Alzheimer's Disease: Early Recognition of Potentially Reversible Deficits, pp 148–53 (eds. Glen, A. I. M. and Whalley, L. J.). Edinburgh: Churchill Livingstone.Google Scholar
Smith, C. M., Swash, M. (1979) Physostigmine in Alzheimer's disease. Lancet, i, 42.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Vroulis, G. A., Smith, R. C., Brinkman, S., Schoolar, J. & Gordon, J. (1981) The effects of lecithin on memory in patients with senile dementia of the Alzheimer's type. Psychopharmacology Bulletin, 1, 127–8.Google Scholar
Wang, F. L. & Haubrich, D. R. (1975) A simple, sensitive and specific assay for free choline in plasma. Analytical Biochemistry, 63, 195201.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
White, P., Goodhardt, M. J., Keet, J. P., Hiley, C. R., Carrasco, L. H. & Williams, I. E. I. (1977) Neocortical cholinergic neurons in elderly people. Lancet, i, 668–71.Google Scholar
Whiteley, A., Signoret, J. L., Agid, Y. & L'Hermitte, F. (1979) Action de la choline sur les troubles mnésiques de la maladie d'Alzheimer. Revue Neurologique (Paris), 135, 565–72.Google Scholar
Worral, E. P. & Dewhurst, D. (1979) Manipulating central cholinergic functions: studies with deanol and physostigmine. In Alzheimer's Disease: Early Recognition of Potentially Reversible Deficits, pp 179–82 (eds. Glen, A. I. M. and Whalley, L. J.). Edinburgh: Churchill Livingstone.Google Scholar
Zeisel, S. H., Growdon, J. H., Wurtman, R. J., Magil, S. C. & Logue, B. A. (1980) Normal plasma choline responses to ingested lecithin. Neurology, 30, 1226–9.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Zeisel, S. H., Reinstein, D., Corkin, S., Growdon, J. & Wurtman, R. (1981) Cholinergic neurons and memory. Nature, 293, 187–8.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Submit a response

eLetters

No eLetters have been published for this article.