Tier 4 — mechanistic

Dietary choline and betaine; associations with subclinical markers of cardiovascular disease risk and incidence of CVD, coronary heart disease and stroke: the Jackson Heart Study

Heather R Millard, Solomon K Musani, Daniel T Dibaba, Sameera A Talegawkar, Herman A Taylor, Katherine L Tucker, Aurelian Bidulescu
European journal of nutrition 2018 57(1):51-60

Bibliography

PubMed
PMID 27550622
PubMed Central
PMC5931705
DOI
10.1007/s00394-016-1296-8
Funding
Indexed grant support: N01 HC095172 — NHLBI NIH HHS — United States; L60 MD002938 — NIMHD NIH HHS — United States; N01 HC095170 — NHLBI NIH HHS — United States; N01-HC-95170 — Foundation for the National Institutes of Health; R01 HL076784 — NHLBI NIH HHS — United States; N01 HC095171 — NHLBI NIH HHS — United States; R01 AG028321 — NIA NIH HHS — United States. The indexed list may not contain the complete funding declaration.
Competing interests
Reported disclosure: None of the authors had a personal or financial conflict of interest.

Study snapshot

DesignProspective cohort
ModelHuman participants
Sample3924 Jackson Heart Study participants
InterventionHabitual dietary choline and/or betaine intake; no randomized TMG treatment
DurationAverage 9 years
EndpointsCoronary events; Stroke

What the study showed, in plain terms

Published in 2018, this source examined human observational and biomarker research. Design: Prospective cohort. Sample/model: 3924 Jackson Heart Study participants. The exposure or intervention was Habitual dietary choline and/or betaine intake; no randomized TMG treatment. Follow-up or treatment period: Average 9 years.

A middle-high betaine-intake category was associated with greater coronary-disease risk, without a simple linear protective pattern.

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

  • A middle-high betaine-intake category was associated with greater coronary-disease risk, without a simple linear protective pattern.
  • The recorded outcome domains were Coronary events; Stroke.
  • 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: Accessible full-text extract plus indexed bibliographic data. Missing method details, funding information or participant denominators are not inferred.

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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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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