Phosphatidylcholine

They are a major component of biological membranes and can easily be obtained from a variety of readily available sources, such as egg yolk or soybeans, from which they are mechanically or chemically extracted using hexane.

It is also used along with sodium taurocholate for simulating fed- and fasted-state biorelevant media in dissolution studies of highly lipophilic drugs.

[5] Phospholipase D catalyzes the hydrolysis of phosphatidylcholine to form phosphatidic acid (PA), releasing the soluble choline headgroup into the cytosol.

[citation needed] A 2009 systematic review of clinical trials in humans found that there was not enough evidence to support supplementation of lecithin or phosphatidylcholine in dementia.

[11] Although multiple pathways exist for the biosynthesis of phosphatidylcholine, the predominant route in eukaryotes involves condensation between diacylglycerol (DAG) and cytidine 5'-diphosphocholine (CDP-choline or citicoline).