| HOME | HELP | FEEDBACK | SUBSCRIPTIONS | ARCHIVE | SEARCH | TABLE OF CONTENTS |
|
|
|
|||||||
|
|||||||||
ORIGINAL RESEARCH COMMUNICATION |
1 From the Departments of Nutrition (SEC, ELG, LWD, WCW, and EBR) and Epidemiology (ELG, SEH, WCW, and EBR), Harvard School of Public Health, Boston, MA; the Department of Nutrition, School of Public Health and School of Medicine, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC (SHZ); and the Channing Laboratory, Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA (ELG, SEH, WCW, and EBR)
Background: Elevated total homocysteine (tHcy), a risk factor for many chronic diseases, can be remethylated to methionine by folate. Alternatively, tHcy can be metabolized by other 1-carbon nutrients, ie, betaine and its precursor, choline.
Objective: We aimed to assess the association between the dietary intakes of betaine and choline and the concentration of tHcy.
Design: We conducted a cross-sectional analysis in 1477 women by using linear regression models to predict mean fasting tHcy by intakes of of betaine and choline.
Results: tHcy was 8% lower in the highest quintile of total betaine + choline intake than in the lowest quintile, even after control for folate intake (P for trend = 0.07). Neither choline nor betaine intake individually was significantly associated with tHcy. Choline from 2 choline-containing compounds, glycerophosphocholine and phosphocholine, was inversely associated with tHcy. These inverse associations were more pronounced in women with folate intake < 400 µg/d than in those with intakes 
400 µg/d (P for interaction = 0.03 for phosphocholine) and in moderate alcohol drinkers (15 g/d) than in nondrinkers or light drinkers (<15 g/d) (P for interaction = 0.02 for glycerophosphocholine and 0.04 for phosphocholine). The strongest dose response was seen in women with a low-methyl diet (high alcohol and low folate intake) (P for interaction = 0.002 for glycerophosphocholine and 0.001 for phosphocholine).
Conclusions: Total choline + betaine intake was inversely associated with tHcy, as was choline from 2 water-soluble choline-containing compounds. Remethylation of tHcy may be more dependent on the betaine pathway when methyl sources are low as a result of either inadequate folate intake or heavier alcohol consumption.
Key Words: Betaine • choline • folate • homocysteine • alcohol • low-methyl diet
This article has been cited by other articles:
|
|
 |
|
  X. Xu, M. D. Gammon, S. H. Zeisel, P. T. Bradshaw, J. G. Wetmur, S. L. Teitelbaum, A. I. Neugut, R. M. Santella, and J. Chen High intakes of choline and betaine reduce breast cancer mortality in a population-based study FASEB J, November 1, 2009; 23(11): 4022 - 4028. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
 |
|
 S. V Konstantinova, G. S Tell, S. E Vollset, A. Ulvik, C. A Drevon, and P. M Ueland Dietary patterns, food groups, and nutrients as predictors of plasma choline and betaine in middle-aged and elderly men and women Am. J. Clinical Nutrition, December 1, 2008; 88(6): 1663 - 1669. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
|
|
X. Xu, M. D. Gammon, S. H. Zeisel, Y. L. Lee, J. G. Wetmur, S. L. Teitelbaum, P. T. Bradshaw, A. I. Neugut, R. M. Santella, and J. Chen Choline metabolism and risk of breast cancer in a population-based study FASEB J, June 1, 2008; 22(6): 2045 - 2052. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
|
|
S. H Zeisel Is there a new component of the Mediterranean diet that reduces inflammation? Am. J. Clinical Nutrition, February 1, 2008; 87(2): 277 - 278. [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
| HOME | HELP | FEEDBACK | SUBSCRIPTIONS | ARCHIVE | SEARCH | TABLE OF CONTENTS |
