Choline feeding depresses the phospholipase C activity in the regenerating liver of female rats.

The administration of an excess of choline for 3 weeks is able to delay the proliferative response to partial hepatectomy (PH) in female rats. Choline feeding can affect the phospholipid composition of cell membranes and, as a consequence, the transduction of the mitogenic signals. On these bases, we studied the turnover of phosphatidylinositol-4,5-biphosphate (PIP2) in the regenerating liver of female rats. The hydrolysis of PIP2 is catalysed by a specific phospholipase C (PL-C) and it generates the second messenger molecules, namely diacylglycerol and inositol-1,4,5-triphosphate (IP3). Our results showed that the administration of an excess of choline to females was able to reduce the PL-C activity and the membrane IP3 content in the quiescent liver. Both parameters remained lower than controls during liver regeneration, even if they were higher 1 and 2 h after PH in comparison with the quiescent liver, in choline-fed females. These data suggest that the delay in the liver regeneration by choline is due, at least in part, to the alteration in the pathway of PIP2 turnover for the transduction of mitogenic signals.