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Home > Anti-aging Research > Choline.

Choline

Specific Recommendations:

News & Research:

  • Choline during pregnancy impacts children’s sustained attention - Science Daily, 1/3/22 - "Choline - found in egg yolks, lean red meat, fish, poultry, legumes, nuts and cruciferous vegetables - is absent from most prenatal vitamins, and more than 90% of expectant mothers consume less than the recommended amount ... One half of these women consumed 480 mg choline per day, which slightly exceeds the recommended adequate intake (AI) level of 450 mg/day. The other half consumed a total intake of 930 mg choline per day, approximately double the AI level ... When tested at 7 years of age, the children of women in the 480 mg/day group showed a decline in accuracy from the beginning to the end of a sustained attention task, while those from the 930 mg/day group maintained a high level of accuracy throughout the task. These findings parallel the effects of maternal choline supplementation and deprivation in rodents, using a closely analogous sustained attention task" - See citicholine at Amazon.com.
  • Extra choline may help pregnant women decrease negative effects of COVID-19 on their newborns - Science Daily, 6/1/20 - "It's important for the healthcare community, and soon to be mothers, to be aware that a natural nutrient can be taken during pregnancy, just like folic acid and other prenatal vitamins, to protect fetuses and newborns from brain development issues. Later on in life, these development issues can lead to mental illness ... researchers analyzed the effects on infant behavior if the mother had contracted a respiratory virus by measuring the infant's IBQ-R Regulation dimension -- which looks at the development of infant attention and other self-regulatory behaviors. Lower IBQ-R Regulation at one year of age is associated with problems in attention and social behavior in later childhood, including decreased reading readiness at age four years and with problems in concentration, and conscientiousness in children through seven years of age ... The results from the study: Infants of mothers who had viral infections and higher choline levels had significantly increased 3-month IBQ-R scores on the Regulation dimension and specifically the Attention scale in the Regulation dimension, compared to infants of mothers who had viral infections and had lower choline levels ... Choline levels sufficient to protect the fetus often require dietary supplements ... The study highlights that in conjunction with the CDC's current advice on COVID-19's effects in pregnancy, phosphatidylcholine or choline supplements along with other prenatal vitamins may help buffer the fetal brain from the possible detrimental impact of the current pandemic and decrease the risk of the children's future mental illness ... Previous pandemics have resulted in significantly increased levels of mental illnesses including schizophrenia, autism spectrum disorder and attention deficit disorder in the offspring"
  • Common nutrient supplementation may hold the answers to combating Alzheimer's disease - Science Daily, 9/27/19 - "when these mice are given high choline in their diet throughout life, they exhibit improvements in spatial memory, compared with those receiving a normal choline regimen ... Choline acts to protect the brain from Alzheimer's disease in at least two ways, both of which are explored in the new study. First, choline blocks the production of amyloid-beta plaques. Amyloid-beta plaques are the hallmark pathology observed in Alzheimer's disease ... Secondly, choline supplementation reduces the activation of microglia. Over-activation of microglia causes brain inflammation and can eventually lead to neuronal death, thereby compromising cognitive function. Choline supplementation reduces the activation of microglia, offering further protection from the ravages of AD ... it is well understood that Alzheimer's disease causes harm to the brain long before clinical symptoms are made evident. And once these symptoms are identified, it is too late -- the disease has become irreversible. In addition to causing disorientation and memory loss, the disease causes loss of motor control in those who are afflicted ... This study shows that the simple addition of choline in the diet throughout life may reduce AD pathology in those most affected by the disease ... The current established adequate intake level of choline for adult women (>19yrs of age) is 425mg/day, and 550mg/day for adult men. A converging line of evidence indicates that even the current recommended daily intake (RDI) may not be optimal for a proper aging process, especially in women ... The tolerable upper limit (TUL) of choline unlikely to cause side effects for adult females and males (>19yrs of age) is 3500mg/day, which is 8.24 times higher than the 425mg/day recommendation for females and 6.36 times higher than the 550mg/day recommendation for males ... vitamin supplements containing choline, for example choline bitartrate and choline chloride, are widely available at affordable costs. The vitamin supplements containing choline are particularly relevant for those who are on plant-based diets" - See citicholine at Amazon.com.
  • Suggested move to plant-based diets risks worsening brain health nutrient deficiency - Science Daily, 8/29/19 - "To make matters worse, the UK government has failed to recommend or monitor dietary levels of this nutrient -- choline -- found predominantly in animal foods ... Choline is an essential dietary nutrient, but the amount produced by the liver is not enough to meet the requirements of the human body ... Choline is critical to brain health, particularly during fetal development. It also influences liver function, with shortfalls linked to irregularities in blood fat metabolism as well as excess free radical cellular damage ... The primary sources of dietary choline are found in beef, eggs, dairy products, fish, and chicken, with much lower levels found in nuts, beans, and cruciferous vegetables, such as broccoli ... In 1998, recognising the importance of choline, the US Institute of Medicine recommended minimum daily intakes. These range from 425 mg/day for women to 550 mg/day for men, and 450 mg/day and 550 mg/day for pregnant and breastfeeding women, respectively"
  • Essential nutrient may help fight Alzheimer's across generations - Science Daily, 1/8/19 - "The study focuses on mice bred to display AD-like symptoms. Results showed that when these mice are given high choline in their diet, their offspring show improvements in spatial memory, compared with those receiving a normal choline regimen in the womb ... Remarkably, the beneficial effects of choline supplementation appear to be transgenerational, not only protecting mice receiving choline supplementation during gestation and lactation, but also the subsequent offspring of these mice ... While this second generation received no direct choline supplementation, they nevertheless reaped the benefits of treatment, likely due to inherited modifications in their genes ... First, choline reduces levels of homocysteine, an amino acid that can act as a potent neurotoxin, contributing to the hallmarks of AD: neurodegeneration and the formation of amyloid plaques ... Secondly, choline supplementation reduces the activation of microglia -- cells responsible for clearing away debris in the brain. While their housekeeping functions are essential to brain health, activated microglia can get out of control, as they typically do during AD. Over-activation of microglia causes brain inflammation and can eventually lead to neuronal death"
  • Eating more foods with choline during pregnancy could boost baby’s brain - Science Daily, 1/4/18 - "half the women received 480 mg/day of choline, slightly more than the adequate intake level, and the other half received 930 mg/day ... While offspring in both groups showed cognitive benefits, information processing speeds were significantly faster for the group of expectant mothers who consumed 930 mg/day when compared with the group that took 480 mg/day over the same period ... Though the study has a small sample, it suggests that current recommendations for daily choline intake may not be enough to produce optimal cognitive abilities in offspring" - See citicholine at Amazon.com.
  • The top ingredients for cognition, focus and mood - Nutra USA, 7/14/17 - "omega-3 ... Phosphatidylserine (PS) ... B-vitamins ... Vitamin E ... Lutein ... Citicoline ... Magnesium ... L-theanine ... Curcumin ... Resveratrol ... Blueberry anthocyanins ... Inositol-stabilized arginine silicate ... Spearmint extract ... Ashwaganda ... Bacopa ... Teacrine"
  • The nutrient you didn’t know you were missing - NYT, 12/8/16 - "Did you misplace your keys again or forget to call someone back? Choline plays a role in processing and storing memories, functions that are critical for learning and knowledge retention. In animal studies, having enough choline appears to have an impact on activating parts of the brain responsible for memory ... Choline intake appears to have an inverse relationship with homocysteine levels, spurring further investigation into the role choline may play in brain health in older adults ... Choline helps move fat out of the liver, helping prevent nonalcoholic fatty liver disease ... In animal models, when muscles don’t get enough choline, muscle cells start to break down. The movement of fat out of the liver to be used as energy also decreases when choline levels are too low ... Wallace says most people will need a choline supplement. “According to the 2015 Dietary Guidelines for Americans, modeling of different healthy diet patterns found people would still fall short of their daily choline needs.”"
  • Eight nutrients to protect the aging brain - Science Daily, 4/15/15 - "Citicoline is a natural substance found in the body's cells and helps in the development of brain tissue, which helps regulate memory and cognitive function, enhances communication between neurons, and protects neural structures from free radical damage. Clinical trials have shown citicoline supplements may help maintain normal cognitive function with aging and protect the brain from free radical damage. (Kyowa Hakko USA) ... Choline, which is associated with liver health and women's health, also helps with the communication systems for cells within the brain and the rest of the body. Choline may also support the brain during aging and help prevent changes in brain chemistry that result in cognitive decline and failure. A major source of choline in the diet are eggs"
  • Vitamin B: Choline intake improves memory and attention-holding capacity, experts say - Science Daily, 7/11/13 - "In the first experiment, scientists administered choline to rats during the third term of gestation ... the scientists concluded that prenatal choline intake improves long-term memory in the resulting offspring once they reach adulthood ... In the second experiment, the researchers measured changes in attention that occurred in adult rats fed a choline supplement for 12 weeks, versus those with no choline intake. They found that the rats which had ingested choline maintained better attention that the others when presented with a familiar stimulus"
  • Choline Intake During Pregnancy and Child Cognition at Age 7 - Medscape, 6/28/13 - "Higher gestational choline intake was associated with modestly better child visual memory at age 7 years"
  • Citicoline May Improve Memory, Decrease Cognitive Decline - Medscape, 3/5/13 - "The study examined 349 patients older than 64 years from 6 regions in Italy who had memory complaints and evidence of vascular lesions — but who did not have probable Alzheimer's disease ... the participants who received citicoline had significantly better memory scores, as shown on the Mini–Mental State Examination (MMSE), up to 9 months after treatment compared with their counterparts who did not receive the treatment ... Of the 349 study participants, 265 received 500 mg of oral citicoline twice daily"
  • Choline supplementation during pregnancy presents a new approach to schizophrenia prevention - Science Daily, 1/15/13 - "Choline, an essential nutrient similar to the B vitamin and found in foods such as liver, muscle meats, fish, nuts and eggs, when given as a dietary supplement in the last two trimesters of pregnancy and in early infancy, is showing a lower rate of physiological schizophrenic risk factors in infants 33 days old ... Choline is also being studied for potential benefits in liver disease, including chronic hepatitis and cirrhosis, depression, memory loss, Alzheimer's disease and dementia, and certain types of seizures ... Half the healthy pregnant women in this study took 3,600 milligrams of phosphatidylcholine each morning and 2,700 milligrams each evening; the other half took placebo. After delivery, their infants received 100 milligrams of phosphatidylcholine per day or placebo. Eighty-six percent of infants exposed to pre- and postnatal choline supplementation, compared to 43% of unexposed infants, inhibited the response to repeated sounds, as measured with EEG sensors placed on the baby's head during sleep" - [Abstract] - See phosphatidylcholine at Amazon.com.
  • Nutrient in eggs and meat may influence gene expression from infancy to adulthood - Science Daily, 9/20/12 - "Consuming greater amounts of choline -- a nutrient found in eggs and meat -- during pregnancy may lower an infant's vulnerability to stress-related illnesses, such as mental health disturbances, and chronic conditions, like hypertension, later in life ... More choline in the mother's diet led to a more stable HPA axis and consequently less cortisol in the fetus ... Pressman joined a team led by Marie Caudill, Ph.D., R.D., professor in the Division of Nutritional Sciences at Cornell, in studying 26 pregnant women in their third trimester who were assigned to take 480 mg of choline per day, an amount slightly above the standard recommendation of 450 mg per day, or about double that amount, 930 mg per day. The choline was derived from the diet and from supplements and was consumed up until delivery"
  • Pregnant? Get Your Choline! - U.S. News, 8/31/12 - "The take-home message is best summarized by a review in the Journal of Pediatrics: Choline in the diet of the pregnant mother and the infant is directly related to permanent changes in brain function. Without enough choline during the critical time of brain growth and development, intelligence, memory, and possibly mood regulation will be damaged permanently. We may not be able to measure the exact impact on IQ or other brain functions, but we know enough at this point to start preaching the choline message"
  • Supplement May Aid Vascular Dementia Memory Problems - Medscape, 8/1/12 - "at 9 months, there was a significant difference in Mini–Mental State Examination (MMSE) scores in citicoline users vs nonusers ... A psychostimulant, citicoline has been shown to inhibit brain cell death associated with cerebral ischemia. It has also been shown to inhibit neurodegeneration and is able to increase neuroplasticity and noradrenaline and dopamine levels in the central nervous system ... Those in the active treatment group received oral citicoline at a dose of 500 mg twice a day" - See citicholine at Amazon.com.
  • Nutrient mixture improves memory in patients with early Alzheimer's - Science Daily, 7/10/12 - "Wurtman came up with a mixture of three naturally occurring dietary compounds: choline, uridine and the omega-3 fatty acid DHA ... These nutrients are precursors to the lipid molecules that, along with specific proteins, make up brain-cell membranes, which form synapses. To be effective, all three precursors must be administered together ... In animal studies, he showed that his dietary cocktail boosted the number of dendritic spines, or small outcroppings of neural membranes, found in brain cells. These spines are necessary to form new synapses between neurons ... 40 percent of patients who consumed the drink improved in a test of verbal memory, while 24 percent of patients who received the control drink improved their performance ... Patients, whether taking Souvenaid or a placebo, improved their verbal-memory performance for the first three months, but the placebo patients deteriorated during the following three months, while the Souvenaid patients continued to improve ... as the trial went on, the brains of patients receiving the supplements started to shift from patterns typical of dementia to more normal patterns. Because EEG patterns reflect synaptic activity, this suggests that synaptic function increased following treatment, the researchers say" - Avoid the patent mark-up.  See citicholine at Amazon.com, uridine at Amazon.com and Jarrow Max DHA at Amazon.com.
  • Nutritional Supplement Boosts Cognition in Healthy Women - Medscape, 6/21/11 - "Citicoline, a naturally occurring substance found in the brain and liver and marketed as a nutritional supplement, enhanced aspects of cognition in healthy women and may have a role in mitigating the cognitive decline associated with normal aging ... It may also improve the attention deficits associated with psychiatric disorders ... The women were divided into 3 groups of 20 and randomly assigned to receive a daily oral citicoline dose of 250 mg (low dose) or 500 mg (high dose) or placebo for 28 days ... participants who received low- or high-dose citicoline showed improved attention, demonstrating fewer commission and omission errors on the CPT-II compared with the placebo group"
  • Science builds for attention boosting potential of Cognizin Citicoline - Nutra USA, 5/18/11 - "Citicoline has been shown to have a variety of cognitive-enhancing and neuroregenerative properties in pre-clinical and clinical studies ... Our findings suggest that citicoline may mitigate the cognitive decline associated with normal aging and may ameliorate attentional deficits associated with psychiatric disorders"
  • Boosting supply of key brain chemical reduces fatigue in mice - Science Daily, 12/10/10 - "Researchers at Vanderbilt University have "engineered" a mouse that can run on a treadmill twice as long as a normal mouse by increasing its supply of acetylcholine ... could lead to new treatments for neuromuscular disorders such as myasthenia gravis, which occurs when cholinergic nerve signals fail to reach the muscles ... The choline transporter is vital to the capacity for muscle contraction -- including the ability to breathe -- because it regulates the supply of choline, the precursor to acetylcholine. "We reasoned that giving more of this protein might enhance muscle function and reduce nerve-dependent fatigue,""
  • Supplement may prevent alcohol-related brain, skull defects - Science Daily, 5/27/10 - "The dietary supplement CDP-choline, sold as a brain-boosting agent and under study for stroke and traumatic brain injury, may block skull and brain damage that can result from alcohol consumption early in pregnancy ... 25 percent of mouse embryos exposed to alcohol during that critical period had defects in the fibrous joints that connect the skull ... When they added ceramide-neutralizing CDP-choline to the mouse cells, cell death and ceramide levels were reduced" - See citcoline at Amazon.com.
  • Low Choline Levels In Pregnant Women Raise Babies' Risk For Brain And Spinal-cord Defects, Study Shows - Science Daily, 8/16/09 - "Choline, an essential nutrient found in egg yolks, soy, wheat germ and meats, was the only nutrient measured whose blood levels were linked to risk of neural tube defects"
  • Nutrient cocktail may boost memory and learning: study - Nutra USA, 7/10/08 - "It may be possible to use this [combination] to partially restore brain function in people with diseases that decrease the number of brain neurons, including, for example, Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's, strokes and brain injuries. Of course, such speculations have to be tested in double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical trials ... supplemented the diets of gerbils with uridine (in its monophosphate form, 0.5 per cent) and choline (0.1 per cent), and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA, 300 mg/kg/day) for four weeks ... At the end of the study, significant increases in phospholipid levels in the brain were observed when the compounds were given together, while administration of only DHA or UMP or UMP plus choline produced smaller increases" - [Abstract] - See citicholine at Amazon.com and Jarrow Max DHA at Amazon.com.
  • Dietary uridine enhances the improvement in learning and memory produced by administering DHA to gerbils - FASEB J. 2008 Jul 7 - "These findings demonstrate that a treatment that increases synaptic membrane content can enhance cognitive functions in normal animals" - See citicholine at Amazon.com and Jarrow Max DHA at Amazon.com.
  • Pine bark extract boost for blood flow and heart health - Nutra USA, 10/18/07 - "Acetylcholine stimulates the cells of arteries to produce NO from L-arginine faster ... In turn, the NO causes the muscle surrounding arteries to relax, which results in an increase of blood vessel diameters. When subjects had taken Pycnogenol the relaxation of arteries was increased by 42 per cent as compared to the group taking placebo tablets"
  • Choline Effective in Mouse Model of Allergic Asthma - Medscape, 10/11/07 - "Treatment with choline chloride has significant anti-inflammatory activity in a mouse model of allergic airway inflammation"
  • The association between betaine and choline intakes and the plasma concentrations of homocysteine in women - Am J Clin Nutr. 2007 Oct;86(4):1073-1081 - "Total choline + betaine intake was inversely associated with tHcy, as was choline from 2 water-soluble choline-containing compounds. Remethylation of tHcy may be more dependent on the betaine pathway when methyl sources are low as a result of either inadequate folate intake or heavier alcohol consumption"
  • Choline May Promote Colon Polyps - WebMD, 8/7/07 - "that doesn't mean that choline caused those polyps -- or that avoiding choline prevents polyps. Observational studies such as this one don't prove cause and effect"
  • Need More Choline? - Dr. Weil, 7/3/07
  • Nutritional Supplement Given After Birth Improves Learning And Behavior In Rats Exposed To Alcohol During Development - Science Daily, 3/1/07 - "Choline plays a number of roles in brain development. It is also a precursor to acetylcholine, a neurotransmitter involved in learning and cognition, among other functions ... giving choline to rat pups exposed to alcohol during the equivalent of the third trimester, when there's a spurt in brain growth, significantly reduced the severity of alcohol-related over-activity and spatial learning deficits. The benefits lasted months after choline treatment, suggesting that choline's effects are long-lasting"
  • Increased choline intake could cut CVD risk, suggests study - Nutra USA, 6/22/06
  • MIT Research Offers New Hope For Alzheimer's Patients - Science Daily, 4/27/06 - "The three compounds in the treatment cocktail - omega-3 fatty acids, uridine and choline - are all needed by brain neurons to make phospholipids, the primary component of cell membranes"
  • Memory enhancer named best new ingredient - Functional Foods and Nutraceuticals, 4/04 - "Citicoline is a form of choline that helps replenish the brain with phosphatidylserine ... In a double-blind trial of 84 elderly patients with mild to moderate memory loss, subjects who took 1000mg of citicoline daily for six weeks showed improvement in the acquisition of new information and its recall and improvement in global memory efficiency"
  • Research Links Nutrient in Eggs to Improved Memory - WebMD, 3/12/04 - "has been studying choline in animals for more than a decade and is also four years into a study examining the effects of choline deficiency in humans. He says those studies show that the current recommended intake of half a gram a day -- the amount gotten by eating two large eggs -- is probably not enough for some groups, especially young men"
  • Enhancing Cognitive Function - Life Extension Magazine, 5/00
  • How to Have a Smarter Child - WebMD, 10/8/01 - "When Swartzwelder gave pregnant rats a diet containing three times the usual amount of choline, their offspring did better on maze-learning and similar tests of spatial memory. They also had improved function in the brain region known as the hippocampus, which is vital for memory and learning"
  • Putting On Einstein's Thinking Cap - Life Enhancement Magazine, 8/99
  • Be All That You Can Be - Life Enhancement Magazine, 7/99

Abstracts:

  • Dietary choline intake is necessary to prevent systems-wide organ pathology and reduce Alzheimer's disease hallmarks - Aging Cell 2023 Jan 15; - "There is an urgent need to identify modifiable environmental risk factors that reduce the incidence of Alzheimer's disease (AD). The B-like vitamin choline plays key roles in body- and brain-related functions. Choline produced endogenously by the phosphatidylethanolamine N-methyltransferase protein in the liver is not sufficient for adequate physiological functions, necessitating daily dietary intake. ~90% of Americans do not reach the recommended daily intake of dietary choline ... Dietary choline deficiency altered hippocampal networks associated with microtubule function and postsynaptic membrane regulation. In plasma, dietary choline deficiency altered protein networks associated with insulin metabolism, mitochondrial function, inflammation, and fructose metabolic processing. Our data highlight that dietary choline intake is necessary to prevent systems-wide organ pathology and reduce hallmark AD pathologies" - See citicholine at Amazon.com.
  • Combined use of coenzyme Q10 and citicoline: A new possibility for patients with glaucoma - Front Med (Lausanne) 2022 Dec 15 - "Glaucoma is the leading cause of irreversible blindness worldwide. Several risk factors have been involved in the pathogenesis of the disease. By now, the main treatable risk factor is elevated intraocular pressure. Nevertheless, some patients, whose intraocular pressure is considered in the target level, still experience a progression of the disease. Glaucoma is a form of multifactorial ocular neurodegeneration with complex etiology, pathogenesis, and pathology. New evidence strongly suggests brain involvement in all aspects of this disease. This hypothesis and the need to prevent glaucomatous progression led to a growing interest in the pharmacological research of new neuroprotective, non-IOP-lowering, agents. The aim of this paper is to report evidence of the usefulness of Coenzyme Q10 and Citicoline, eventually combined, in the prevention of glaucomatous neurodegeneration ... Overall, these data suggest the possible usefulness of the combined use of citicoline and CoQ10 both in terms of a putative synergistic effect and in terms of combined action on the different pathogenetic targets causing the onset and progression of glaucoma. Using combined treatment may downregulate more pro-apoptotic pathways as well as it may boost the effect on one or more pathways on which the different molecules act. In addition, it may increase patients’ compliance reducing the burden of administering several medications, simplifying treatment" - See ubiquinol products at Amazon.com and citicholine at Amazon.com.
  • Relationship between different forms of dietary choline and ovarian cancer survival: findings from the ovarian cancer follow-up study, a prospective cohort study - Food Funct 2022 Nov 10 - "Choline has important and diverse functions in both cellular maintenance and growth. However, the relationships between the prediagnosis of the different forms of dietary choline intake and ovarian cancer (OC) survival are relatively unknown ... Higher lipid-soluble choline intake was significantly associated with better overall survival for patients with OC (Tertile 3 vs. Tertile 1: HR = 0.56; 95% CI: 0.34, 0.92; P trend = 0.02) in the fully adjusted model. Similar associations were observed for phosphatidylcholine intake (Tertile 3 vs. Tertile 1: HR = 0.55; 95% CI: 0.33, 0.91; P trend = 0.02). However, no associations were found between total water-soluble choline (free choline, phosphocholine, and glycerophosphocholine), sphingomyelin, and betaine intake and OC survival. Significant additive interactions between higher fat-soluble choline intake and positive expression of estrogen receptor and Wilms tumor-1 as well as higher phosphatidylcholine intake and positive expression of estrogen receptor and Wilms tumor-1 on OC survival were detected. Conclusions: Our findings indicate that prediagnosis, total lipid-soluble choline and phosphatidylcholine intake were associated with improved overall survival among OC patients"
  • One-year longitudinal association between changes in dietary choline or betaine intake association with cardiometabolic variables in the PREDIMED-Plus trial - Am J Clin Nutr 2022 Sep 16 - "The greatest one-year increase in dietary choline or betaine intake (Q4) was associated with improved serum glucose (-3.39 and -2.72 mg/dL for choline or betaine, respectively) and glycated hemoglobin levels (-0.10% for Q4 of either choline or betaine intake increase). Other significant changes associated with the greatest increase in choline or betaine intake were: reduced body weight (-2.93 and -2.78 Kg, respectively), BMI (-1.05 and -0.99 Kg/m2, respectively), waist circumference (-3.37 and -3.26 cm, respectively), total cholesterol (-4.74 and -4.52 mg/dL, respectively) and LDL cholesterol (-4.30 and -4.16 mg/dL, respectively). Urine creatinine was reduced in Q4 of one-year increase in choline or betaine intake (-5.42 and -5.74 mg/dL, respectively)" - See citicholine at Amazon.com and betaine anhydrous (TMG) at Amazon.com.
  • Is dietary choline intake related to dementia and Alzheimer's disease risk: results from the Framingham Heart Study - Am J Clin Nutr 2022 Aug 2 - "Dietary choline intake showed non-linear relationship with incident dementia and AD. After adjusting for covariates, low choline intake (defined as choline/100 ≤ 2.19 and choline/100 ≤ 2.15 in our sample) was significantly associated with incident dementia or incident AD"
  • Prenatal choline supplementation improves biomarkers of maternal docosahexaenoic acid status among pregnant participants consuming supplemental DHA: a randomized controlled trial - Am J Clin Nutr 2022 May 16 - "Prenatal choline supplementation improves hepatic DHA export and biomarkers of DHA status by bolstering methyl group supply for PEMT activity among pregnant participants consuming supplemental DHA" - See citicholine at Amazon.com nad docosahexaenoic acid at Amazon.com.
  • Choline Supplementation Partially Restores Dendrite Structural Complexity in Developing Iron-Deficient Mouse Hippocampal Neurons - J Nutr 2021 Dec 27 - "Early-life choline supplementation, with postnatal iron repletion, improves learning/memory performance in formerly iron-deficient (ID) rats"
  • Role of citicoline and choline in the treatment of post-stroke depression: an exploratory study - J Int Med Res 2021 Nov - "To compare selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) and nootropic drugs in the reduction of anxiety and depressive symptoms in post-stroke patients ... A total of 44 post-stroke patients with depression (aged 45-75 years) were enrolled in the study: 20 were treated with SSRIs and 24 received nootropic drugs. From baseline to follow-up, the SSRI group showed a large effect size with regard depression (success rate difference [SRD] 0.57; 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.21, 0.79) and anxiety (SRD 0.49; 95% CI 0.14, 0.74), whereas the nootropic group showed a small effect size for depression (SRD 0.16; 95% CI -0.17, 0.46) and a small effect size for anxiety (SRD 0.36 ... The administration of nootropic drugs could be a valid therapeutic strategy to manage post-stroke patients suffering from mild-moderate anxiety or anxious-depressive syndrome, but this requires further research" - See citicholine at Amazon.com.
  • Associations of choline intake with hypertension and blood pressure among older adults in cross-sectional 2011 - 2014 NHANES differ by body mass index and comorbidity status - Br J Nutr 2021 Aug 12;1-22 - "Blood pressure (BP) is a known cardiovascular risk factor that is hypothesized to be inversely related to choline intake. A previous study suggested that this association may be more apparent in older adults and may differ according to demographic and health characteristics ... Choline intake interacted with BMI (P-interaction=0.04) such that choline intake tended to be associated with lower odds of hypertension among people with BMI <18.5 kg/m2 (OR [95% CI]: 0.64 [0.4,1.00]; P=0.052). Choline intake was not associated with systolic BP (mean±SEM change per 100 mg of choline: -1.03±0.74 mmHg; P=0.16). In contrast, its relation to diastolic BP differed by cardiovascular comorbidity (P-interaction=0.03) with a non-significant (P=0.13) negative direction of association observed among those who were free of comorbidities and a non-significant (P=0.26) positive direction observed among those with comorbidities. Collectively, these results suggested that the associations of choline intake with BP levels and hypertension risk among older adults are dependent on other risk factors" - See choline at Amazon.com and iHerb.
  • Plasma choline and betaine and risks of cardiovascular events and recurrent stroke after ischemic stroke - Am J Clin Nutr 2021 Jun 22 - "Choline and betaine have been suggested to play a pivotal role in neurotransmitter synthesis, cell membrane integrity, and methyl-group metabolism, exerting neuroprotective effects in patients with various neurological disorders ... Plasma choline and betaine were inversely associated with cardiovascular events and recurrent stroke after ischemic stroke. Specifically, in fully adjusted models, each additional SD of choline and betaine was associated with 35% (95% CI: 20%-48%) and 30% (95% CI: 14%-43%) decreased risks of subsequent cardiovascular events, respectively, and 34% (95% CI: 16%-48%) and 29% (95% CI: 12%-43%) decreased risks of recurrent stroke, respectively" - See choline at Amazon.com and betaine anhydrous (TMG) at Amazon.com.
  • Maternal plasma choline and betaine in late pregnancy and child growth up to age 8 years in the KOALA Birth Cohort Study - Am J Clin Nutr 2021 Jun 10 - "Sufficient choline and betaine during pregnancy are needed for fetal growth and development ... Third-trimester pregnancy plasma choline and betaine were positively associated with childhood anthropometric measures. In boys, some of the associations may have persisted up to 8 y of age" - See citicholine at Amazon.com and betaine anhydrous (TMG) at Amazon.com.
  • Citicoline and Memory Function in Healthy Older Adults: A Randomized, Double-Blind, Placebo-Controlled Clinical Trial - J Nutr 2021 May 12 - "Supplementation of citicoline (CDP-choline), a naturally occurring mononucleotide, has shown beneficial effects on memory function and behavior in populations with a wide range of impairments ... age-associated memory impairment (AAMI) ... A total of 100 healthy men and women aged between 50 and 85 y with AAMI participated in this randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial. Participants were randomized to receive placebo (n = 51) or citicoline (n = 49; 500 mg/d) for 12 wk ... After the 12-wk intervention, participants supplemented with citicoline showed significantly greater improvements in secondary outcomes of episodic memory (assessed by the Paired Associate test), compared with those on placebo (mean: 0.15 vs. 0.06, respectively, P = 0.0025). Composite memory (secondary outcome), calculated using the scores of 4 memory tests, also significantly improved to a greater extent following citicoline supplementation (mean: 3.78) compared with placebo ... Dietary supplementation of citicoline for 12 wk improved overall memory performance, especially episodic memory, in healthy older males and females with AAMI. The findings suggest that regular consumption of citicoline may be safe and potentially beneficial against memory loss due to aging"
  • Dietary lutein plus zeaxanthin and choline intake is interactively associated with cognitive flexibility in middle-adulthood in adults with overweight and obesity - Nutr Neurosci 2021 Jan 15 - "Among a sample of adults with overweight and obesity, greater intake of choline and lutein+zeaxanthin was associated with faster performance on a cognitive flexibility task" - [Nutra USA] - See citicholine at Amazon.com, lutein at Amazon.com and astaxanthin at Amazon.com.
  • Dietary lutein plus zeaxanthin and choline intake is interactively associated with cognitive flexibility in middle-adulthood in adults with overweight and obesity - Nutr Neurosci 2021 Jan 15 - "Among a sample of adults with overweight and obesity, greater intake of choline and lutein+zeaxanthin was associated with faster performance on a cognitive flexibility task. Future work examining methods of increasing consumption of both of these dietary components as a possible means of improving or maintaining cognitive flexibility among adults with overweight and obesity is therefore warranted." - [Nutra USA] - See citicholine at Amazon.com, lutein at Amazon.com and astaxanthin at Amazon.com.
  • Supplemental Choline Modulates Growth Performance and Gut Inflammation by Altering the Gut Microbiota and Lipid Metabolism in Weaned Piglets - J Nutr 2020 Nov 26 - "Choline supplementation improved growth performance and prevented gut inflammation in weaned piglets by altering gut microbiota and lipid metabolism"
  • Choline Intake as Supplement or as a Component of Eggs Increases Plasma Choline and Reduces Interleukin-6 without Modifying Plasma Cholesterol in Participants with Metabolic Syndrome - Nutrients 2020 Oct 13 - "Metabolic syndrome (MetS) is characterized by low-grade inflammation and insulin resistance, which increase the risk of heart disease. Eggs have numerous nutrients including choline, carotenoids, and fat-soluble vitamins that may protect against these conditions. Egg phosphatidylcholine (PC) is a major contributor of dietary choline in the American diet. However, uncertainty remains regarding eggs due to their high concentration of cholesterol. In this study, we evaluated the effect of two sources of choline, whole eggs (a source of PC) and a choline supplement (choline bitartrate, CB), on plasma lipids, glucose, insulin resistance, and inflammatory biomarkers ... We recruited 23 subjects with MetS to participate in this randomized cross-over intervention. After a 2-week washout, with no choline intake, participants were randomly allocated to consume three eggs/day or CB (~400 mg choline/d for both) for 4 weeks. After a 3-week washout period, they were allocated to the alternate treatment. Dietary records indicated higher concentrations of vitamin E and selenium during the egg period (p < 0.01). Interestingly, there were no changes in plasma total, low density lipoprotein (LDL)- or high density lipoprotein (HDL)-cholesterol, triglycerides, or glucose, compared either to baseline or between treatments. In contrast, interleukin-6 was reduced, with both sources of choline compared to baseline, while eggs also had an effect on lowering C-reactive protein, insulin, and insulin resistance compared to baseline. This study demonstrates that in a MetS population, intake of three eggs per day does not increase plasma LDL cholesterol, and has additional benefits on biomarkers of disease compared to a choline supplement, possibly due to the presence of other antioxidants in eggs" - See citicholine at Amazon.com and iHerb.
  • Choline, Neurological Development and Brain Function: A Systematic Review Focusing on the First 1000 Days - Nutrients 2020 Jun 10 - "The foundations of neurodevelopment across an individual's lifespan are established in the first 1000 days of life (2 years). During this period an adequate supply of nutrients are essential for proper neurodevelopment and lifelong brain function. Of these, evidence for choline has been building but has not been widely collated using systematic approaches ... supplementing the maternal or child's diet with choline over the first 1000 days of life could subsequently: (1) support normal brain development (animal and human evidence), (2) protect against neural and metabolic insults, particularly when the fetus is exposed to alcohol (animal and human evidence), and (3) improve neural and cognitive functioning (animal evidence). Overall, most offspring would benefit from increased choline supply during the first 1000 days of life, particularly in relation to helping facilitate normal brain development. Health policies and guidelines should consider re-evaluation to help communicate and impart potential choline benefits through diet and/or supplementation approaches across this critical life stage"
  • Effects of Citicoline as an Adjunct Treatment for Alzheimer's Disease: A Systematic Review - J Alzheimers Dis 2020 Jun 6 - "Limited evidence from pooled data of two observational studies suggests that CC used in adjunct with AChEIs in the treatment of AD was well-tolerated and showed improvement in cognition, mood, and behavioral symptoms compared to treating with AChEIs alone"
  • Maternal Choline and Respiratory Coronavirus Effects on Fetal Brain Development - J Psychiatr Res 2020 May 25 - "Prenatal COVID-19 infection is anticipated by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control to affect fetal development similarly to other common respiratory coronaviruses through effects of the maternal inflammatory response on the fetus and placenta ... Infants of mothers who had contracted a moderately severe respiratory virus infection and had higher gestational choline serum levels (>=7.5 mM consistent with U.S. Food and Drug Administration dietary recommendations) had significantly increased development of their ability to maintain attention and to bond with their parents (Regulation), compared to infants whose mothers had contracted an infection but had lower choline levels (<7.5 mM). For infants of mothers with choline levels >= 7.5 μM, there was no effect of viral infection on infant IBQ-R Regulation, compared to infants of mothers who were not infected. Higher choline levels obtained through diet or supplements may protect fetal development and support infant early behavioral development even if the mother contracts a viral infection in early gestation when the brain is first being formed" - [Nutra USA]
  • Dietary Choline Supplementation Attenuates High-Fat-Diet-Induced Hepatocellular Carcinoma in Mice - J Nutr. 2019 Dec 18 - "cohort fed an HFD (60% kcal fat) or an HFD with supplemental choline (60% kcal fat, 1.2% choline; HFD+C) for 30 wk ... HFD+C mice exhibited a 50-90% increase in both circulating choline and betaine concentrations in the fed state (P = 0.05). Choline supplementation resulted in a 55% decrease in total tumor numbers, a 67% decrease in tumor surface area, and a 50% decrease in hepatic steatosis after 30 wk of diet (P = 0.05). Choline supplementation increased the abundance of mitochondria and the relative expression of β-oxidation genes by 21% and ∼75-100%, respectively, in the liver. HFD+C attenuated circulating myeloid-derived suppressor cells at 15 wk of feeding (P ≤ 0.05)"
  • Prenatal dietary choline supplementation modulates long-term memory development in rat offspring - Nutr Neurosci. 2019 Jul 15:1-9 - "These results suggest that prenatal supplementation with choline accelerates the development of long-term memory in rats"
  • Combined citicoline and docosahexaenoic acid treatment improves cognitive dysfunction following transient brain ischemia - J Pharmacol Sci. 2019 Apr;139(4):319-324 - "BCCAO ischemic mice were treated for a total of 11 days with a combination of citicoline (40 mg/kg body weight/day) and DHA (300 mg/kg body weight/day) or each alone. Combined citicoline and DHA synergistically and significantly improved learning and memory ability of ischemic mice compared with either alone. Further, citicoline and DHA treatment significantly prevented neuronal cell death, and slightly increased DHA-containing PtdCho in the hippocampus, albeit not significantly. Taken together, these findings suggest that combined citicoline and DHA treatment may have synergistic benefits for partially improving memory deficits following transient brain ischemia" - [Nutra USA] - See  citicholine at Amazon.com and docosahexaenoic acid at Amazon.com.
  • The Effects of Choline and Magnesium Co-Supplementation on Metabolic Parameters, Inflammation, and Endothelial Dysfunction in Patients With Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus: A Randomized, Double-Blind, Placebo-Controlled Trial - J Am Coll Nutr. 2019 Apr 23:1-8 - "When adjusted for potential confounders, inflammation and endothelial factors (IL-6 and VCAM-1) decreased significantly in the choline-magnesium group as compared to other groups (p < 0.05). Compared to baseline values there were no significant differences in all anthropometric measurements and metabolic factors among four groups" - See  citicholine at Amazon.com and Magtein at Amazon.com.
  • Usual Choline Intakes Are Associated with Egg and Protein Food Consumption in the United States - Nutrients. 2017 Aug 5;9(8) - "This research illustrates that it is extremely difficult to achieve the AI for choline without consuming eggs or taking a dietary supplement ... adequate intake (AI)" - [Nutra USA]
  • B-vitamin and choline supplementation increases neuroplasticity and recovery after stroke - Neurobiol Dis. 2017 Jul;103:89-100 - "In supplemented diet mice, we report improved motor function after ischemic damage compared to mice fed a control diet after ischemic damage. Within the perilesional cortex, we show enhanced proliferation, neuroplasticity and anti-oxidant activity in mice fed the supplemented diet" - [Nutra USA]
  • A double-blind, randomized clinical trial of dietary supplementation on cognitive and immune functioning in healthy older adults - BMC Complement Altern Med. 2014 Feb 4;14:43 - "On the Controlled Oral Word Association Trial-S, the scores significantly increased for the Ginkgo Synergy(®) plus Choline arm from baseline to 6 months follow-up ... Our study showed isolated and modest effects of a Ginkgo biloba plus choline-based formula on cognitive and immune functioning among healthy older adults with no history of significant cognitive deficits" - See Ginkgo biloba at Amazon.com and  citicholine at Amazon.com.
  • A Nutrient Combination that Can Affect Synapse Formation - Nutrients. 2014 Apr 23;6(4):1701-10 - "Brain neurons form synapses throughout the life span. This process is initiated by neuronal depolarization, however the numbers of synapses thus formed depend on brain levels of three key nutrients-uridine, the omega-3 fatty acid DHA, and choline ... In Alzheimer's disease (AD) the need for extra quantities of the three nutrients is enhanced, both because their basal plasma levels may be subnormal (reflecting impaired hepatic synthesis), and because especially high brain levels are needed for correcting the disease-related deficiencies in synaptic membrane and synapses" - See uridine at Amazon.com, docosahexaenoic acid at Amazon.com and  citicholine at Amazon.com.
  • Choline status and neurodevelopmental outcomes at 5 years of age in the Seychelles Child Development Nutrition Study - Br J Nutr. 2013 Jan 9:1-7 - "The aim of the present study was to examine the association between plasma concentrations of free choline and its related metabolites in children and their neurodevelopment in the Seychelles Child Development Nutrition Study, an ongoing longitudinal study assessing the development of children born to mothers with high fish consumption during pregnancy ... The children's plasma free choline concentration (9.17 (sd 2.09) μmol/l) was moderately, but significantly, correlated with betaine ... Adjusted multiple linear regression revealed that betaine concentrations were positively associated with Preschool Language Scale - total language scores (β = 0.066; P= 0.04), but no other associations were evident"
  • Improvements in quantitative EEG following consumption of a natural citicoline-enhanced beverage - Int J Food Sci Nutr. 2012 Jun;63(4):421-5 - "Ten healthy adult participants enrolled in a double-blind, placebo-controlled crossover study and were randomized to receive either placebo or the citicoline supplement on the first visit. Measures of electrical brain activity using electroencephalogram (EEG) were collected 30 min after consuming the beverage. Seven days after the initial assessment participants completed the alternative condition (placebo or citicoline beverage). Compared to placebo, significant improvements were found in frontal alpha EEG and N100 event related potentials (ERP) associated with the citicoline-enhanced supplement. These preliminary findings suggest that a novel brain drink containing compounds known to increase choline in the brain significantly improved attention as measured by ERP and EEG. These findings suggest that a viable and alternative brain supplement without potential compounds such as taurine may augment attentional mechanisms in healthy individuals"
  • Citicoline Enhances Neuroregenerative Processes After Experimental Stroke in Rats - Stroke. 2012 May 10 - "Animals treated with citicoline showed a significantly better neurological outcome at Days 10, 21, and 28 after ischemia, which could not be attributed to differences in infarct volumes or glial scar formation. However, neurogenesis in the dentate gyrus, subventricular zone, and peri-infarct area was significantly increased by citicoline. Furthermore, enhanced neurological outcome after citicoline treatment was associated with a shift toward excitation in the perilesional cortex"
  • Choline intake in a large cohort of patients with nonalcoholic fatty liver disease - Am J Clin Nutr. 2012 Feb 15 - "Decreased choline intake is significantly associated with increased fibrosis in postmenopausal women with NAFLD"
  • Citicoline in Vascular Cognitive Impairment and Vascular Dementia After Stroke - Stroke. 2010 Dec 16 - "Stroke doubles the risk of dementia and is a major contributor to vascular cognitive impairment and vascular dementia ... Citicoline has demonstrated neuroprotective effects in acute stroke and has been shown to improve cognition in patients with chronic cerebrovascular disease and in some patients with Alzheimer disease. A recent trial lasting 6 months in patients with first-ever ischemic stroke showed that citicoline prevented cognitive decline after stroke with significant improvement of temporal orientation, attention, and executive function. Experimentally, citicoline exhibits neuroprotective effects and enhances neural repair. Citicoline appears to be a safe and promising alternative to improve stroke recovery and could be indicated in patients with vascular cognitive impairment, vascular dementia, and Alzheimer disease with significant cerebrovascular disease"
  • Neuroprotection and Recovery: Recent Data at the Bench on Citicoline - Stroke. 2010 Dec 16 - "Although the mechanisms of some of these actions remain to be elucidated, so far citicoline appears as a drug with the ability to promote "safe" neuroprotection capable of enhancing endogenous protective pathways at the same time as preparing the scenario for plasticity" - See citicholine at Amazon.com.
  • Citicoline affects appetite and cortico-limbic responses to images of high-calorie foods - Int J Eat Disord. 2009 Mar 3 - "Cytidine-5'-diphosphocholine (citicoline) has a variety of cognitive enhancing, neuroprotective, and neuroregenerative properties. In cocaine-addicted individuals, citicoline has been shown to increase brain dopamine levels and reduce cravings ... After 6 weeks, there was no significant change in weight status, although significant declines in appetite ratings were observed for the 2,000 mg/day group. The higher dose group also showed significant increases in functional brain responses to food stimuli within the amygdala, insula, and lateral orbitofrontal cortex. Increased activation in these regions correlated with declines in appetite ratings ...These preliminary findings suggest a potential usefulness of citicoline in modulating appetite, but further research is warranted"
  • Dietary choline and betaine intakes in relation to concentrations of inflammatory markers in healthy adults: the ATTICA study - Am J Clin Nutr. 2008 Feb;87(2):424-30 - "Compared with the lowest tertile of choline intake (<250 mg/d), participants who consumed >310 mg/d had, on average, 22% lower concentrations of C-reactive protein (P < 0.05), 26% lower concentrations of interleukin-6 (P < 0.05), and 6% lower concentrations of tumor necrosis factor-alpha"