ARTICLE 64 FEED & ADDITIVE MAGAZINE June 2022 CHOLINE IS ESSENTIAL AND REQUIRED FOR EVERYBODY “Choline is a biochemical building block and precursor to numerous compounds involved in supporting life. For dairy cattle, choline serves many roles and is essential for health and productivity. Decades of research shows that supplementing with rumen-protected choline can increase milk production, reduce the incidence of transition metabolic disorders and improve growth and survivability of calves born to cows supplemented with choline.” Choline has long been considered an essential nutrient and has an identified requirement in most species, including humans. Though most can synthesize choline endogenously, it cannot be produced in sufficient quantity to satisfy the body’s requirements and must be supplemented in the diet. Choline is crucial for normal function of all cells. It is the precursor to the neurotransmitter acetylcholine which controls virtually all major systems and muscle movements within the body ranging from cardiac function to the central nervous system. Choline also serves as a source for methyl groups for the formation of methionine and is important in DNA methylation. Deficiency symptoms include suppressed growth rates, renal dysfunction, and development of fatty liver. In human nutrition, studies have shown that higher prenatal choline intake was suggestive of improved infant cognitive function (Caudill, M.A., et al. FASEB J., 2018) and reduced instance of neural tube defects (Shaw, G.M., et al. Epidemiology, 2009) showing the in utero impact choline can have. The most common form of choline in biological systems is phosphatidylcholine (PC). Of particular importance is PC as a constituent of very low-density lipoproteins (VLDL), which are synthesized in the liver and transport fat from the liver to muscle, adipose, and mammary tissue. Several experimental models have shown that PC deficiency limits VLDL export and leads to development of fatty liver. This vital role of choline in hepatic metabolism explains why fatty liver is the classic deficiency symptom when diets do not deliver adequate choline for intestinal absorption. At the time of the 2001 Dairy NRC publication, choline was not recognized as an essential nutrient for lactating dairy cows or transition cows due to the lack of “extensive feeding experiments.” Since that time however, a recent meta-analysis published in 2020 (Arshad et al.) revealed 48 publications (spanning more than three decades) related to transition dairy cows in which diets were supplemented with rumen protected choline. With the growing body of scientific and empirical Stefano Vandoni, PhD Technical Service Manager Balchem ANH, EMEA
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy MTUxNjkxNQ==