OK. Both say essentially the same thing, but in order for it to be true, gut bugs must work on the choline to produce at least TMAO.No, it's when the bugs metabolize phosphatidylcholine, an ester, they produce TMAO, betaine and choline. Part of the metabolim is the reverse of the reaction shown below. A fair amount of the choline is used to regenerate the neurotransmiiter acetylcholine which is used in many parts of the nervous system including parts ennervating the gut.
Organic caids and alcohols make esters, as in polyesters. Phosphatidylcholine will get hydrolyzed, i.e. add water, the reverse reaction, yielding phosphatidic acid and choline in the presence of an enzyme.
Re: "OK. Both say essentially the same thing, but in order for it to be true, gut bugs must work on the choline to produce at least TMAO."
"No, it's when the bugs metabolize phosphatidylcholine, an ester...
Yes. That pathway just produces choline. The original paper only worked with choline for the particular conclusion and conditional I mentioned. Here's the link to hte abstract I gave above in post #33, that includes the finding for dietary choline, which does not include any dietary phosphatidylcholine: From the Abstract: "Suppression of intestinal microflora in atherosclerosis-prone mice inhibited dietary-choline-enhanced atherosclerosis."