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Plant Source Foods
Published in Chuong Pham-Huy, Bruno Pham Huy, Food and Lifestyle in Health and Disease, 2022
Chuong Pham-Huy, Bruno Pham Huy
Betaine (trimethylglycine) is a derived form of amino acid. The principal physiological role of betaine is as an osmolyte and methyl donor (transmethylation). Inadequate dietary intake of betaine often leads to hypo-methylation in many important pathways, including disturbed hepatic protein (methionine) metabolism, and inadequate hepatic fat metabolism, which leads to steatosis and plasma dyslipidemia. Betaine has a principal role in lowering the blood level of homocysteine, which is the key element in cascading development of atherosclerosis (181).
Hereditary and Metabolic Diseases of the Central Nervous System in Adults
Published in Philip B. Gorelick, Fernando D. Testai, Graeme J. Hankey, Joanna M. Wardlaw, Hankey's Clinical Neurology, 2020
Treatment of acute encephalopathic attacks is as described earlier in the chapter including IV glucose and correction of metabolic acidosis. High-dose vitamin B12 is a specific and effective treatment that can reverse encephalopathy and white matter changes in late-onset cobalamin C deficiency. However, it needs to be given as high-dose (>1 mg/day) hydroxocobalamin; other forms such as cyanocobalamin are not effective. Other specific treatments include betaine. Protein restriction is not needed.
Fatty Liver Disease
Published in David Heber, Zhaoping Li, Primary Care Nutrition, 2017
Betaine (trimethylglycine) is a key nutrient for humans that is similar in function to choline and can be obtained from a variety of foods and nutritional supplements (Purohit et al. 2007). In the liver, betaine can transfer one methyl group to homocysteine to form methionine. This process removes toxic metabolites (homocysteine and S-adenosylhomocysteine), restores SAM levels, reverses steatosis, prevents apoptosis, and reduces both damaged protein accumulation and oxidative stress (Kharbanda et al. 2007; Kharbanda 2009). Betaine also appears to attenuate alcoholic steatosis by restoring phosphatidylcholine generation via the phosphatidylethanolamine methyltransferase pathway (Kharbanda et al. 2007). Studies suggest that betaine offers hepatic protection against ethanol-induced oxidative stress by decreasing sulfur-containing amino acid breakdown as well (Kim et al. 2008). Betaine supplementation is promising, but there are further clinical studies needed.
Betaine attenuates sodium arsenite-induced renal dysfunction in rats
Published in Drug and Chemical Toxicology, 2022
Sumedha Sharma, Tajpreet Kaur, Ashwani Kumar Sharma, Balbir Singh, Devendra Pathak, Harlokesh Narayan Yadav, Amrit Pal Singh
Nature offers an endless variety of bioactive substances. Betaine is found in plenty of natural sources such as sugar beet and spinach (Sakamoto and Murata 2002). Betaine has demonstrated protection against cardiovascular disorders like endothelial dysfunction and neurological disorders such as dementia and Alzheimer’s disease. Betaine has been noted to ameliorate nephrotoxicity and burn injury in various experimental studies credits to its biological action as an antioxidant (Şehirli et al.2016). It is well reported that kidney plays an important role in maintaining serum levels of betaine. The betaine transport carrier protein is mainly expressed in the kidney and in the case of renal disease, the serum concentration of betaine decreases due to its’ enhanced excretion (Zhou et al.2012). Hyperosmolarity provides a hostile environment to the renal cells thereby causing their death. Betaine inhibits the activation of caspases in hypertonicity-induced apoptosis and preventing renal damage (Cano et al.2015). Betaine has proven its beneficial role against high fructose-induced chronic kidney disease by reducing the levels of inflammatory cytokines such as interleukins (IL)-1β, IL-18 and tumor necrosis factor-α (Fan et al.2014).
Investigation of the Gastroprotective Effect of Betaine-Homocysteine Homeostasis on Oxidative Stress, Inflammation and Apoptosis in Ethanol-Induced Ulcer Model
Published in Journal of Investigative Surgery, 2022
Ayşe Çakır Gündoğdu, Fatih Kar, Cansu Özbayer
The result of the current research verifies that alcohol consumption leads to oxidative stress due to an increased overall oxidation state and lipid peroxidation and an impaired antioxidant defense mechanism in gastric tissues. In addition, inflammation and apoptosis is partially triggered by ethanol treatment. Betaine is able to ameliorate gastric mucosal injury by reducing homocysteine levels, improving the oxidant-antioxidant balance and inhibiting apoptosis. On the other hand, the findings of the present study demonstrate for the first time that despite its beneficial effects on ulcerative tissue, betaine itself negatively affects liver function, causes anemia, and impairs the immune system. Therefore, although betaine appears to provide gastroprotection by inhibiting oxidative stress-related damage and increasing antioxidant capacity without changing the increased inflammation, more detailed studies are needed to suggest its use for protection against ulcers, at least at the concentration used in our study, due to the damage it causes at the systemic level.
Dietary betaine prevents obesity through gut microbiota-drived microRNA-378a family
Published in Gut Microbes, 2021
Jingjing Du, Peiwen Zhang, Jiang Luo, Linyuan Shen, Shunhua Zhang, Hao Gu, Jin He, Linghui Wang, Xue Zhao, Mailing Gan, Liu Yang, Lili Niu, Ye Zhao, Qianzi Tang, Guoqing Tang, Dongmei Jiang, Yanzhi Jiang, Mingzhou Li, Anan Jiang, Long Jin, Jideng Ma, Surong Shuai, Lin Bai, Jinyong Wang, Bo Zeng, De Wu, Xuewei Li, Li Zhu
Betaine is a natural substance which is wildly present in daily foods including spinach, shellfish, and particularly rich in whole grains.16 Previous results indicated that gut microbiota may contribute to production of betaine in mice fed with bran-enriched diets, and reduced plasma levels of betaine in human is positively associated with increased risks of metabolic disorders such as insulin resistance, coronary artery disease, and obesity.16,69,70 However, its underlying mechanism is still poorly understood. In the present study, we showed that gut microbiota was crucial for the function of betaine on protecting against development of diet-induced obesity as well as obesity-associated complication, reasoning that supplementation of betaine failed to improve lipid and glucose metabolism, and stimulate browning of WAT of HFD-fed mice.