BACKGROUND: Many reports on the change of pseudocholinesterase activity in pregnant women showed that it declines during pregnancy and in the immediate postpartum period. In Korea, there are two papers that show dissident results. However, they didn't prove that the subjects in their studies had genotypically normal enzyme. So, we compared the pseudocholinesterase activities between nonpregnant and term-pregnant women who have the genotypically normal enzyme. METHODS: We measured the dibucaine, fluoride, chloride number as well as the pseudocholinesterase astivity using butyrylthiocholine as substrate by automatic analyser, urea and scoline numbers using benzoylcholine as substrate by manual technique in nonpregnant(n=15) and term-pregnant(n=15) women aging 20 to 40 years old before induction of anesthesia. RESULTS: The dibucaine, fluoride, chloride, urea and scoline numbers(mean+/-SD,%) in female subjects were 86+/-1.2, 50+/-5.2, 5+/-2.4, 47+/-2.8 and 92+/-2.0, respectively. There were two subjects showing low pseudocholinesterase activity(<4.8 U/ml) and the one(3.9 U/ml) was in nonpregnant group, the other(4.5 U/ml) in term-pregnant group. We found that they had genotypically normal enzymes because their inhibition numbers were within normal ranges. Pseudocholinesterase activity(mean+/-SD) in term-pregnant group(7.04+/-1.30) was significantly decreased compared with that in nonpregnant group(9.15+/-2.01)(P<0.01). CONCLUSIONS: We conclude that in subjects with the genotypically normal enzyme, term-pregnant women had significantly lower pseudocholinesterase activity than nonpregnant ones did.
Adult ; Aging ; Anesthesia ; Benzoylcholine ; Butyrylthiocholine ; Dibucaine ; Female ; Fluorides ; Humans ; Korea ; Postpartum Period ; Pregnancy ; Pregnant Women ; Pseudocholinesterase* ; Reference Values ; Urea

Benzethonium chloride is quaternary ammonium compounds, which may cross-react with benzalkonium chloride. It has been used in the treatment of burns, ulcers, wounds, and infected dermatoses and also present in many cosmetics, deodorants, mouthwashes, dentifrices, lozenges, and ophthalmic preparations. Cetostearyl alcohol is used as emulsifiers and can be considered as preservatives. A 19-year-old female presented with well-demarcated adult-fist sized dark-reddish patch on the left shin. She had applied Senepul(R) (disinfectant solution) 3 months ago due to scratching wound and applied Travogen(R). Patch test with Korean standard series and the ingredients of used topical agents showed positive reactions to benzethonium chloride and cetostearyl alcohol.
Benzalkonium Compounds ; Benzethonium* ; Burns ; Dentifrices ; Deodorants ; Dermatitis, Allergic Contact* ; Female ; Humans ; Mouthwashes ; Patch Tests ; Quaternary Ammonium Compounds ; Skin Diseases ; Ulcer ; Wounds and Injuries ; Young Adult

Most nutrients taken by pregnant women are secreted into their breast milk. Food contains choline together with betaine, and in human body choline is oxidized to betaine which transfer methyl group. The aim of the study was to estimate the concentrations of choline and betaine in breast milk of Korean lactating women and the choline and betaine intakes of their infants. Total choline, free choline and betaine concentrations in breast milk of some lactating women living in Daejon Metropolitan city were analyzed every month by using HPLC-MS and enzymatic method during the first five months. Total choline concentrations of breast milks were 157.64 mg/L (1.52 mmol/L), 157.83 mg/L (1.52 mmol/L), 165.99 mg/L (1.60 mmol/L), 153.67 mg/L (1.48 mmol/L), 145.05 mg/L (1.39 mmol/L) by month after delivery for five months. The concentrations of total choline and free choline in breast milks were not significantly changed for the five months while the betaine concentrations gradually decreased. Daily intake of total choline of the infants appears to be adequate for the infant's requirement according to the US DRI; 124.6 mg/d, 120.9 mg/d, 126.5 mg/d 104.1 mg/d from 2nd to 5th month after birth. Free choline and betaine intakes of the infants were not significantly changed during the four months except showing decrease in betaine intake per kg body weight. Choline intakes of the infants more correlated with choline concentrations of the breast milks (r = 0.982, p = 0.000) than intake amount of the breast milk (r = 0.414, p = 0.028). These results suggest that the choline intake of Korean breast-fed infants appears to be adequate and the intake could be affected by the choline concentration of the breast milk.
Betaine ; Body Weight ; Breast ; Choline ; Female ; Human Body ; Humans ; Infant ; Milk, Human ; Parturition ; Pregnant Women

Serum pseudocholinesterase activities, using butyrylthiocholine as substrate, measured in 639 employees of Korea Cancer Center Hospital in 1993. Overall mean value of pseudocholinesterase was 9.38+/-2.10 U/ml, 10.6+/-2.10 U/ml in male, and 8.58+/-1.67 U/ml in female, respectively. Male in the first five decades of life had higher pseudocholinesterase activity than female, and after the age of 50 tbere was no intersexual difference. These findings suggest that adults before the age of 50, male has higher pseudocholinesterase activity than female.
Adult* ; Butyrylthiocholine ; Female ; Humans ; Korea ; Male ; Pseudocholinesterase*

No abstract available.
Choline*

Maternal nutrition during pregnancy plays a vital role in the health of the offspring. Methyl donor nutrients, including folate, vitamin B, choline, betaine, and methionine, directly affect DNA methylation and are closely associated with the health of the offspring. As an important part of epigenetics, DNA methylation plays an important role in the maintenance of normal cellular function, gene expression regulation, and embryonic development. Recent studies have shown that maternal nutrition may have a long-lasting effect on the health of the offspring via the changes in genomic DNA and/or methylation level in the promoter region in specific genes. Therefore, this review article focuses on the effect of maternal intake of methyl donor nutrients during pregnancy on DNA methylation, in order to explore the effect of the changed methylation status on the health of the offspring at the molecular level.
Betaine ; administration & dosage ; Choline ; administration & dosage ; DNA Methylation ; Female ; Folic Acid ; administration & dosage ; Humans ; Maternal Nutritional Physiological Phenomena ; Methionine ; administration & dosage ; Pregnancy ; Vitamin B 12 ; administration & dosage

Methylation, a methyl group-consuming reaction, plays a key role in the degradation (i.e., inactivation) of monoamine neurotransmitters, including catecholamines, serotonin and histamine. Without labile methyl groups, the methylation-mediated degradation cannot take place. Although high niacin (nicotinic acid and nicotinamide) intake, which is very common nowadays, is known to deplete the body's methyl-group pool, its effect on monoamine-neurotransmitter degradation is not well understood. The aim of this article was to investigate the effect of excess nicotinamide on the levels of plasma serotonin and histamine in healthy subjects. Urine and venous blood samples were collected from nine healthy male volunteers before and after oral loading with 100 mg nicotinamide. Plasma N(1)-methylnicotinamide, urinary N(1)-methyl-2-pyridone-5-carboxamide (2-Py), and plasma betaine levels were measured by using high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). Plasma concentrations of choline, serotonin and histamine were measured using commercial kits. The results showed that the plasma N(1)-methylnicotinamide level and the urinary excretion of 2-Py significantly increased after oral loading with 100 mg nicotinamide, which was accompanied with a decrease in the methyl-group donor betaine. Compared with those before nicotinamide load, five-hour postload plasma serotonin and histamine levels significantly increased. These results suggest that excess nicotinamide can disturb monoamine-neurotransmitter metabolism. These findings may be of significance in understanding the etiology of monoamine-related mental diseases, such as schizophrenia and autism (a neurodevelopmental disorder).
Betaine ; blood ; Choline ; blood ; Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid ; Histamine ; blood ; Humans ; Male ; Niacinamide ; administration & dosage ; analogs & derivatives ; blood ; Pyridones ; urine ; Serotonin ; blood

Elevated plasma homocysteine ( Hcy) is a risk factor for cognitive dysfunction and Alzheimer disease, although the mechanism is still unknown. Both folate and betaine, a choline metabolite, play essential roles in the remethylation of Hcy to methionine. Choline deficiency may be associated with low folate status and high plasma Hcy. Alterations in DNA methylation also have established critical roles for methylation in development of the nervous system. This study was un-dertaken to assess the effect of choline and folate deficiency on Hcy metabolism and genomic DNA methylation status of the liver and brain. Groups of adult male Sprague Dawley rats were fed on a control, choline-deficient ( CD) , folate-deficient ( FD) or choline/folate-deficient ( CFD) diets for 8 weeks. FD resulted in a significantly lower hepatic folate ( 23%)(p < 0.001) and brain folate ( 69%)(p < 0.05) compared to the control group. However, plasma and brain folate remained unaltered by CD and hepatic folate reduced to 85% of the control by CD ( p < 0.05) . Plasma Hcy was signi-ficantly increased by FD ( 18.34 +/- 1.62 micrometer) and CFD ( 19.35 +/-3.62 micrometer) compared to the control ( 6.29 +/-0.60 micrometer) ( p < 0.001) , but remained unaltered by CD. FD depressed S-adenosylmethionine ( SAM) by 59% ( p < 0.001) and ele-vated S-adenosylhomocysteine ( SAH) by 47% in liver compared to the control group ( p < 0.001) . In contrast, brain SAM levels remained unaltered in CD, FD and CFD rats. Genomic DNA methylation status was reduced by FD in liver ( p< 0.05) . Genomic DNA hypomethylation was also observed in brain by CD, FD and CFD although it was not signifi-cantly different from the control group. Genomic DNA methylation status was correlated with folate stores in liver ( r = - 0.397, p < 0.05) and brain ( r = - 0.390, p < 0.05) , respectively. In conclusion, our data demonstrated that genomic DNA methylation and SAM level were reduced by folate deficiency in liver, but not in brain, and correlated with folate concentration in the tissue. The fact that folate deficiency had differential effects on SAM, SAH and genomic DNA methylation in liver and brain suggests that the Hcy metabolism and DNA methylation are regulated in tissue-specific ways.
Adult ; Alzheimer Disease ; Animals ; Betaine ; Brain ; Choline ; Choline Deficiency ; Diet ; DNA Methylation* ; DNA* ; Folic Acid ; Homocysteine* ; Humans ; Liver ; Male ; Metabolism ; Methionine ; Methylation ; Nervous System ; Plasma* ; Rats* ; Rats, Sprague-Dawley ; Risk Factors ; S-Adenosylhomocysteine ; S-Adenosylmethionine

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: It has been known that the motility of the outer hair cell controls the physiological characteristics of the organ of Corti. Motility can be divided into two different types: fast and slow motility. Slow motility can be induced by high concentration of KCl and increase of intracellular Ca2+ concentration. In this study, authors aimed to define the effect of acetylcholine, one of the efferent neurotransmitters, on the slow motility of the outer hair cells of guinea pig. MATERIALS AND METHOD: Outer hair cells were isolated from guinea pigs by enzymatic and mechanical dissociation. The length of the hair cells was recorded by CCD camera equipped on an inverted microscope. Slow motility was induced by 10 (micro)M of ionomycin and 150 mM of KCl. Carbamylcholine (1 mM), a non-hydrolyzable derivative of acetylcholine, was used to observe the effect of acetylcholine and choline chloride (1 mM) was used as control. RESULTS: The length of outer hair cell was decreased after adding 150 mM of KCl and increased after adding 10 (micro)M of ionomycin. Stimulation of carbamylcholine (1 mM) did not induce the length change of the outer hair cells. Preincubation of 1 mM of carbamylcholine also did not affect the length change induced by ionomycin or KCl in outer hair cells. CONCLUSION: We could suggest that carbamylcholine does not have an effect on the slow motility of outer hair cell induced by the change of osmotic pressure which was elicited by high potassium, or intracellular Ca2+ increase.
Acetylcholine ; Animals ; Calcium* ; Carbachol ; Choline ; Guinea Pigs ; Hair* ; Ionomycin ; Neurons, Efferent ; Neurotransmitter Agents ; Organ of Corti ; Osmotic Pressure ; Potassium Chloride ; Potassium*

The degree of conversion (DC) and the compressive strength (CS) are important indexes of composite resin. This study is aimed to investigate the effects of diphenyliodonium on the DC and the CS of the light-curing composite resin. Different amount of diphenyliodonium hexaflourophosphate was added to the light-curing composite resin; the concentrations of diphenyliodonium hexaflourophosphate were 0 wt%, 0.5 wt%, 1.0 wt%, 2.0 wt%, 3.0 wt% and 4.0 wt% of the reisin matrix (containing BisS-GMA and TEGDMA) respectively. The DC and the CS of the six aforementioned groups of the composite resin were measured by the Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and the tensile strength of machine, respectively. Diphenyliodonium hexaflourophosphate can improve the DC and CS of the light-curing composite resin. When the concentration is 2.0 wt%, the DC and CS can achieve better performance.
Biphenyl Compounds ; chemistry ; Composite Resins ; chemistry ; Compressive Strength ; Dental Materials ; chemistry ; Humans ; Light ; Materials Testing ; Onium Compounds ; chemistry