Recent developments in nutrition have established that choline is an essential nutrient for mammals when a sufficient supply in methionine and folates are not available in the diet. Vitamin B12 is also involved in this process. The dynamic interactions between these components introduced the concept of choline as vitamin-like compound. Two types of choline functions are known: as choline per se...

Methoxinine (nn-2-amino-4-methoxybutanoic acid) has been synthesized by Roblin and coworkers (l), who studied its action on Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus. The growth-inhibitory effect of this compound was prevented by L-methionine but not by the D isomer. 1 mole of nnmethionine reversed the antibacterial action of 500 to 1000 moles of DLmethoxinine. In combination with sulfonamides...

This paper reports the synthesis of the betaine hydrochlorides of serine, threonine, and allothreonine and a study of the action of these substances on the lipid content of the livers of rats fed a high fat, low protein diet. This work was undertaken for two purposes. Best and Huntsman (1) found that choline prevented the development of fatty livers in rats fed a high fat diet and that betaine ...

Rats on diets containing suboptimal amounts of threonine or lysine have been observed to develop fatty livers, which could be controlled by adequate dietary levels of these amino acids (2). Choline was also lipotropic, but only at high levels, at which its activity was still limited in extent. The liver lipide pattern in these amino acid deficiencies was found to be suggestive of that observed ...

myo-Inositol (also called meso-inositol) is generally considered a member of the B vitamin complex and is required for growth by a number of yeasts (1) and fungi (2). An exogenous inositol requirement has, however, not been demonstrated in any bacterial species, and, although deficiency symptoms have been produced in animals, evidence for its vitamin function in man remains inconclusive. Inosit...