Washington  - Long-time US Senator Ted Kennedy, who has been battling brain cancer since May, was released from hospital Wednesday after he collapsed in the middle of US President Barack Obama's inaugural lunch, CNN reported.

Kennedy, 76, the last surviving brother of the assassinated John F Kennedy, was taken to the Washington Hospital Center Tuesday after suffering an apparent seizure towards the end of the private lunch hosted by Congress to honour Obama's inauguration.

Late Tuesday, Kennedy's Massachusetts Senate colleague John Kerry visited Kennedy in hospital and told reporters he was "in good shape" and wanted to get back to work.

Kennedy, the third-longest serving senator in US history, underwent surgery in June for a malignant brain tumour. He had since returned to work in Congress but on a limited schedule.

Kennedy and his niece Caroline, daughter of the slain president, played a key role in Obama's election by throwing their weight behind him in the early days of the bitter battle against Senator Hillary Clinton for the Democratic presidential nomination. (dpa)