Of What Importance are Phospholipids in Health and Disease?

The ODS Director cochaired a session at the 7th International Congress on Phospholipids, Brussels, Belgium, September 8-10, 1996. The meeting focused on choline and choline phospholipids. The sessions covered cell signaling, cell suicide pathways, phosphatidylcholine biosynthesis, and various issues related to choline and health. Of particular interest to the ODS was the session on choline and brain function. Animal model studies have shown consistent results on choline-induced memory improvements in young as well as with aged animals. Sex differences were observed with perinatal treatment that demonstrated long-lasting improvement in memory capacity with male animals, but the effects were of smaller magnitude and shorter duration with female animals. These data coupled with the basic science studies, presented a well rounded overview of the recent findings in phospholipid research as well as identifying areas for future study of importance to the ODS.