Effects of choline on the leucocyte picture and on the serum cholinesterase activity in rabbits.

In 1906, Werner and Lichtenberg reported that choline injections in rabbits produce sterility or lessened fertility, analogous to the effects of x-ray or thorium X, which was followed by Werner and Asher, reporting blood and skin changes similar to that produced by x-ray (1-4). The above was countered by Seckfort and Weise recently, who reported that choline injections do not produce a falling of white blood cell count (5). Davis et al. have reported that repeated administration of choline produces a hemolytic type of anemia in both man and dogs (6). In 1944, Davis advanced the theory that choline depresses red cell production by in creasing the blood and oxygen supply to bone marrow through its vasodilator action (7,8). The present investigation was undertaken to ascertain the effects of choline on the leucocyte picture and elucidate the mechanism.