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Updated: Dec 12, 2025

An In Vitro Batch-culture Model to Estimate the Effects of Interventional Regimens on Human Fecal Microbiota
Published on: July 31, 2019
The Relationship between Choline Bioavailability from Diet, Intestinal Microbiota Composition, and Its Modulation of
Natalia Arias1,2, Silvia Arboleya3, Joseph Allison2
1Instituto de Neurociencias del Principado de Asturias (INEUROPA), 33003 Oviedo, Asturias, Spain.
Abstract:
Choline is a water-soluble nutrient essential for human life. Gut microbial metabolism of choline results in the production of trimethylamine (TMA), which, upon absorption by the host is converted into trimethylamine-N-oxide (TMAO) in the liver. A high accumulation of both components is related to cardiovascular disease, inflammatory bowel disease, non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, and chronic kidney disease. However, the relationship between the microbiota production of these components and its impact on these diseases still remains unknown. In this review, we will address which microbes contribute to TMA production in the human gut, the extent to which host factors (e.g., the genotype) and diet affect TMA production, and the colonization of these microbes and the reversal of dysbiosis as a therapy for these diseases.
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