Tier 4 — mechanistic

Dietary choline and betaine intakes in relation to concentrations of inflammatory markers in healthy adults: the ATTICA study

Paraskevi Detopoulou, Demosthenes B Panagiotakos, Smaragdi Antonopoulou, Christos Pitsavos, Christodoulos Stefanadis
The American journal of clinical nutrition 2008 87(2):424-430

Bibliography

PubMed
PMID 18258634
DOI
10.1093/ajcn/87.2.424
Funding
Funding was not specified in the indexed record or accessible funding metadata.
Competing interests
A competing-interest declaration was not available in the indexed record or accessible disclosure metadata.

Study snapshot

DesignCross-sectional study
ModelHuman participants
Sample3042 ATTICA participants without cardiovascular disease
InterventionHabitual dietary choline and/or betaine intake; no randomized TMG treatment
DurationSingle dietary and blood assessment
EndpointsInflammatory markers; Homocysteine

What the study showed, in plain terms

Published in 2008, this source examined human observational and biomarker research. Design: Cross-sectional study. Sample/model: 3042 ATTICA participants without cardiovascular disease. The exposure or intervention was Habitual dietary choline and/or betaine intake; no randomized TMG treatment. Follow-up or treatment period: Single dietary and blood assessment.

Higher betaine intake was associated with lower homocysteine and TNF-alpha; the CRP comparison was weaker and not conventionally significant.

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

Continue with TMG Data Center

Continue with TMG Supplement: Trimethylglycine Benefits, Uses and Evidence

Key findings

  • Higher betaine intake was associated with lower homocysteine and TNF-alpha; the CRP comparison was weaker and not conventionally significant.
  • The recorded outcome domains were Inflammatory markers; Homocysteine.
  • 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

Tier 4
Dietary Choline and Betaine and Risk of CVD: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Prospective Studies
Katie A Meyer et al. · Nutrients · 2017
Tier 4
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
Tier 4
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
Tier 4
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