Choline plays a vital role in nerve impulse transmission and supports the liver's ability to metabolize fat. It can be found in meats, egg yolks, cabbage, cauliflower, lettuce, legumes, grains, nuts and brewer's yeast. While it's not, strictly speaking, a vitamin, it is considered an essential nutrient, advises Oregon State University's Linus Pauling Institute. This nutrient may be referred to by several names.
Phosphatidylinositol
Choline is hardly ever taken in its pure form when people supplement with it, unless it's included in a small amount in a multivitamin or in a B-complex vitamin. When it is taken as a supplement, it often is found under the name phosphatidylinositol. Supplements also may be found under the name of phosphatidylcholine, according to Nutros.com
Phosphatidylcholine
Most of the choline in the body is found in specialized fat molecules called phospholipids, according to the Linus Pauling Institute. The most common of these phospholipids is called phosphatidylcholine, which is sometimes used as a synonym for choline, according to Nutros.com. If a person does not have adequate phosphatidylcholine, cholesterol and fat will accumulate in his liver. The liver packages fat and cholesterol into lipoproteins that are called very low density lipoproteins, or VLDL, so they can be transported via blood to tissues that need them. Phosphatidylcholine is one required component for VLDL particles, according to the institute.
Lecithin
Lecithin is another word for phosphatidylcholine, or choline. Choline-containing lecithin is added to processed foods because it improves the foods' texture, according to Nutros.com. People sometimes take lecithin/choline supplements in an attempt to prevent memory loss, depression or Alzheimer's disease, for psychiatric disorders, in an attempt to lower cholesterol and in efforts to cure liver disease, reports the Wellness Guide to Dietary Supplements. Clinical evidence for these uses, however, is either nonexistent or weak, the guide reports.
Betaine
Choline can be oxidized in the human body and form a metabolite that's called betaine, the institute reports. Betaine, in turn, can be used to convert an amino acid called homocysteine into another amino acid called methionine that is needed by the body for metabolic processes, including protein synthesis. This conversion is important because elevated blood levels of homocysteine have an association with increased risk for cardiovascular diseases, according to the institute.
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