Tier 4 — mechanistic

The association between betaine and choline intakes and the plasma concentrations of homocysteine in women

Stephanie E Chiuve, Edward L Giovannucci, Susan E Hankinson, Steven H Zeisel, Lauren W Dougherty, Walter C Willett, Eric B Rimm
The American journal of clinical nutrition 2007 86(4):1073-1081

Bibliography

PubMed
PMID 17921386
PubMed Central
PMC2430894
DOI
10.1093/ajcn/86.4.1073
Funding
Indexed grant support: P01 CA087969 — NCI NIH HHS — United States; T32 HL007575 — NHLBI NIH HHS — United States; CA87969 — NCI NIH HHS — United States; R01 DK015289 — NIDDK NIH HHS — United States; CA100971 — NCI NIH HHS — United States; U54 CA100971 — NCI NIH HHS — United States; R01 CA050385 — NCI NIH HHS — United States; AA11181 — NIAAA NIH HHS — United States; AG09525 — NIA NIH HHS — United States; DK55865 — NIDDK NIH HHS — United States; HL07575 — NHLBI NIH HHS — United States; R01 DK055865 — NIDDK NIH HHS — United States; R01 DK080010 — NIDDK NIH HHS — United States; CA50385 — NCI NIH HHS — United States; P01 AG009525 — NIA NIH HHS — United States; R01 AA011181 — NIAAA NIH HHS — United States. The indexed list may not contain the complete funding declaration.
Competing interests
A competing-interest declaration was not available in the indexed record or accessible disclosure metadata.

Study snapshot

DesignCross-sectional study
ModelHuman participants
Sample1477 women
InterventionHabitual dietary choline and/or betaine intake; no randomized TMG treatment
DurationDietary and fasting biomarker assessment
EndpointsHomocysteine; Folate and alcohol context

What the study showed, in plain terms

Published in 2007, this source examined human observational and biomarker research. Design: Cross-sectional study. Sample/model: 1477 women. The exposure or intervention was Habitual dietary choline and/or betaine intake; no randomized TMG treatment. Follow-up or treatment period: Dietary and fasting biomarker assessment.

Betaine alone was not significantly associated with homocysteine; combined choline-plus-betaine intake showed an inverse trend dependent on nutritional context.

Observational exposure analysis: residual confounding and reverse causation remain possible. Associations do not establish that betaine supplementation causes the same outcome.

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Key findings

  • Betaine alone was not significantly associated with homocysteine; combined choline-plus-betaine intake showed an inverse trend dependent on nutritional context.
  • The recorded outcome domains were Homocysteine; Folate and alcohol context.
  • The exposure was observed rather than assigned as an isolated supplement treatment.

What this study can and cannot tell us

  • Observational exposure analysis: residual confounding and reverse causation remain possible. Associations do not establish that betaine supplementation causes the same outcome.
  • Confounding, dietary patterns, illness, medication use and reverse causation can influence an association. Blood or dietary concentrations do not identify the effect of starting a capsule.
  • Source basis: Indexed abstract and bibliographic data. Missing method details, funding information or participant denominators are not inferred.

Related papers in the corpus

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Dietary Choline and Betaine and Risk of CVD: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Prospective Studies
Katie A Meyer et al. · Nutrients · 2017
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Dietary Choline and Betaine Are Not Associated With the Risk of Type 2 Diabetes. A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Observational Studies
Elham Sharifi-Zahabi et al. · Journal of diabetes research · 2026
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Association of choline and betaine with the risk of cardiovascular disease and all-cause mortality: Meta-analysis
Qinglin Yang et al. · European journal of clinical investigation · 2023
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Association of choline and betaine levels with cancer incidence and survival: A meta-analysis
Jiyoung Youn et al. · Clinical nutrition (Edinburgh, Scotland) · 2019

Editorial review

Reviewed by the Biohack Blueprint research team

Last verified

Dr. Khaled Mahmoud, MBBChCritical Care Medicine, Longevity Science & Editorial Direction Dr. Amr Yasser, PhDCardiometabolic, Musculoskeletal, Gut & Bioavailability Dr. Abdulla Mostafa, PhDCellular Senescence, Neurological, Mitochondrial & Brain-Ageing Biology