Association between serum choline and betaine concentrations and longitudinal changes of body composition in community-dwelling middle-aged and older Chinese adults

• Published in: Applied physiology, nutrition, and metabolism Vol. 45; no. 7; pp. 737 - 744
• Main Authors: Zhong, Rong-huan, Long, Jing-an, Wang, Fan, Chen, Si, Luo, Yun, Lu, Xiao-ting, Yishake, Dinuerguli, Chen, Yu-ming, Fang, Ai-ping, Zhu, Hui-lian
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: 1840 Woodward Drive, Suite 1, Ottawa, ON K2C 0P7 NRC Research Press 01.07.2020; Canadian Science Publishing NRC Research Press
• Subjects: Absorptiometry, Photon; Adult; Adults; Aged; aging; Analysis; betaine; Betaine - blood; blood serum; Body Composition; body fat; Body Mass Index; bétaïne; China; Choline; Choline - blood; Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid; Cohort analysis; composition corporelle; decline; dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry; fat mass; Female; Follow-Up Studies; High performance liquid chromatography; Humans; Independent Living; liquid chromatography; long term effects; Longitudinal Studies; Male; mass; Mass spectrometry; masse grasse; masse musculaire; men; Mens health; metabolism; Middle age; Middle Aged; muscle mass; muscle tissues; Nutrition; Older people; Physiological aspects; prospective cohort study; Prospective Studies; Tandem Mass Spectrometry; vieillissement; women; Womens health; étude de cohorte prospective; China; masse grasse; prospective cohort study; fat mass; vieillissement; muscle mass; choline; composition corporelle; body composition; masse musculaire; étude de cohorte prospective; aging; betaine; bétaïne
• ISSN: 1715-5312; 1715-5320; 1715-5320
• DOI: 10.1139/apnm-2019-0778

Previous studies suggest that betaine and choline may be beneficial for body composition. However, no longitudinal study has been conducted to illustrate if choline and betaine have long-term effects on changes in body composition. This study aimed to prospectively investigate the association between serum choline and betaine concentrations and 3-year changes in body composition in community-dwelling Chinese adults. This present analysis used data from 1384 women and 554 men aged 40–75 years. Serum concentrations of betaine and choline at baseline were assessed using high-performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry. Body composition parameters, i.e., muscle mass (MM), fat mass (FM), and body fat percentage (FM%) were measured using dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry at the first and the second follow-ups. After adjustment for potential cofounders, higher serum choline concentrations were associated with a lower decrease in MM in men (β = 0.022, P = 0.025) and a lower increase in FM and FM% in women with baseline choline concentrations below 21.5 μmol/L (all P for nonlinearity = 0.007); higher serum betaine concentrations were associated with a lower decline in MM and a lower increase in FM and FM% among men whose betaine concentrations were lower than 55 μmol/L (all P for nonlinearity < 0.05). These findings suggest that higher concentrations of serum choline and betaine may be associated with favorable changes in body composition profiles among men and women who have relatively low concentrations, especially in men. Novelty Higher concentrations of serum choline and betaine were associated with favorable changes in body composition. Such favorable associations were more pronounced in men.