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  • Original Article
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Clinical Studies and Practice

Higher serum concentrations of betaine rather than choline is associated with better profiles of DXA-derived body fat and fat distribution in Chinese adults

International Journal of Obesity volume 39, pages 465–471 (2015)Cite this article

Subjects

Abstract

Objective:

Animal studies have suggested that betaine, but not choline, may improve body composition, but little evidence is available in humans. We examined the association of serum concentrations of choline and betaine with body composition and fat distribution in adults.

Methods:

This community-based study recruited 1996 adults (women/men: 1380/616) aged 40–75 years in urban Guangzhou, China. General information and anthropometric measurements were taken, and serum choline and betaine levels were assessed by high-performance liquid chromatography–tandem mass spectrometry between July 2008 and June 2010. After 3.2 years, 1623 of the 1996 participants were measured for fat mass (FM and %FM) over the total body (TB), trunk, limbs, android (A) and gynoid (G) regions. The %FM ratios of the A/G regions and the trunk and limbs were determined by dual energy X-ray absorptiometry.

Results:

Univariate analyses showed that higher serum betaine levels were significantly associated with lower values of adiposity indices (all P-trends<0.05), except in the case of the %FM at the gynoid area. After adjusting for potential covariates, similar associations were observed. The mean percentage differences between quartiles 4 and 1 of the serum betaine levels were −4.9% (weight), −4.7% (body mass index, BMI), −2.5% (waist circumference), −7.9% (TB FM) and −3.4% (TB %FM). The mean differences in the FM and %FM were much more pronounced at the trunk (−10.0 and −4.5%) or android areas (−10.7 and −4.7%) than those at the limbs (−0.8 and −2.3%) or gynoid areas (−0.6 and −1.4%). Such favorable associations were stronger in men than in women. No significant associations between serum choline and the adiposity indices were observed, except in the cases of body weight and BMI.

Conclusions:

Greater circulating betaine, but not choline, was dose-dependently associated with better body composition and fat distribution due to a lower FM in the trunk regions in this population.

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Acknowledgements

We are grateful to Yao-zong Tan, Wen-qi Shi, Ya-bin Wen and Li-ping He, and other team staff for their contribution in the data collection and for facilitating both the recruitment of participants and the interviews. This study was jointly supported by the 5010 Program for Clinical Researches by Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, China (No. 2007032) and the National Science Foundation of China (No. 81273050).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Food, Nutrition and Health, School of Public Health, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, China

    Y-m Chen, Y Liu, K Guan & H-l Zhu

  2. The Biotherapy Center, The First Affiliated Hospital of Zhengzhou University, Henan, China

    Y-h Liu

  3. The First Affiliated Hospital of Henan University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Henan, China

    X Wang

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  1. Y-m Chen
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Correspondence to H-l Zhu.

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Chen, Ym., Liu, Y., Liu, Yh. et al. Higher serum concentrations of betaine rather than choline is associated with better profiles of DXA-derived body fat and fat distribution in Chinese adults. Int J Obes 39, 465–471 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1038/ijo.2014.158

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