Phosphatidylcholine: Beyond cellular integrity
Date
24 Jun 2024
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The clinical use of phosphatidylcholine
Phosphatidylcholine (PC) is a phospholipid integral to maintaining the structure and fluidity of a cell membrane. Additionally, PC provides structure to circulating lipoproteins and is essential for lipid transport and metabolism.1 PC is as an essential component of bile, facilitating fat emulsification, absorption and transport and is an important constituent of surfactants in the body, including those of the lungs and gastrointestinal tract, offering protection to epithelial-luminal interfaces.2
The abundance of PC within cellular membrane bilayers and organelles, and the intercellular variability in PC concentrations between different cell types, is representative of its physiological importance in the body.3,4 Comprising 40-50% of total cellular phospholipids, the clinical significance of PC’s physiological presence is highlighted by ongoing research into links between endogenous PC levels and its mechanistic functions, with pathologies involving several body organs and systems.4