Observational studyPloS one2018
Higher serum choline and betaine levels are associated with better body composition in male but not female population.
Observational study in PloS one, 2018. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 29 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
29 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 45 citations in OpenAlex.
- Effect of Betaine on Reducing Body Fat-A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials.Nutrients · 2019Pooled it
- The Effect of Choline and Resistance Training on Strength and Lean Mass in Older Adults.Nutrients · 2023Trial
- Changes in Choline Metabolites and Ceramides in Response to a DASH-Style Diet in Older Adults.Nutrients · 2023Trial
- Choline Metabolites, Hydroxybutyrate and HDL after Dietary Fiber Supplementation in Overweight/Obese Hypertensive Women: A Metabolomic Study.Nutrients · 2021Trial
- Blood Focused-Metabolomics and Transcriptomics Uncover Non-Linear Risk Association of Inadequate Dietary Choline Intake-Linked Metabolic Stress with MASLD Through Amino Acid Biomarkers,International journal of molecular sciences · 2026Article
- Food sources of choline and their contribution to choline adequacy in U.S. older adults.Journal of food composition and analysis : an official publication of the United Nations University, International Network of Food Data Systems · 2025Article
- Association between dietary betaine intake and overweight or obesity.Scientific reports · 2024Article
- Habitual dietary methyl donor's intake and metabolic profile in obese individuals: a cross-sectional study.Scientific reports · 2024Article
- Choline consumption reduces CVD risk via body composition modification.Scientific reports · 2024Article
- Metabolic underpinnings of cancer-related fatigue.American journal of physiology. Endocrinology and metabolism · 2024Review
- Exploring the Effects of Probiotic Treatment on Urinary and Serum Metabolic Profiles in Healthy Individuals.Journal of proteome research · 2023Article
- Metabolomics to Understand Alterations Induced by Physical Activity during Pregnancy.Metabolites · 2023Review
- The interactive relationship of dietary choline and betaine with physical activity on circulating creatine kinase (CK), metabolic and glycemic markers, and anthropometric characteristics in physically active young individuals.BMC endocrine disorders · 2023Article
- Ameliorating high-fat diet-induced sperm and testicular oxidative damage by micronutrient-based antioxidant intervention in rats.European journal of nutrition · 2022Article
- NMR-Based Metabolomics to Decipher the Molecular Mechanisms in the Action of Gut-Modulating Foods.Foods (Basel, Switzerland) · 2022Article
- The emerging roles of PHOSPHO1 and its regulated phospholipid homeostasis in metabolic disorders.Frontiers in physiology · 2022Review
- Age andFrontiers in aging neuroscience · 2022Article
- Plasma Metabolomic Profiling of Patients Recovered From Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) With Pulmonary Sequelae 3 Months After Discharge.Clinical infectious diseases : an official publication of the Infectious Diseases Society of America · 2021Article
- Maternal plasma choline and betaine in late pregnancy and child growth up to age 8 years in the KOALA Birth Cohort Study.The American journal of clinical nutrition · 2021Article
- Epidemiology of 40 blood biomarkers of one-carbon metabolism, vitamin status, inflammation, and renal and endothelial function among cancer-free older adults.Scientific reports · 2021Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
4 authors at 2 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundAnimal studies proved that choline and betaine have beneficial effect on reducing body fat. However, evidence in humans is scarce. We aim to investigate the association between serum choline and betaine levels with body composition in general population.
methodsThis is an observational cross-sectional study performed in 1081 subjects from the CODING (Complex Disease in Newfoundland population: Environment and Genetics) study. Serum choline and betaine levels were measured based on liquid chromatography coupled with tandem mass spectrometry technology. Body composition was measured using dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry following a 12-hour fast. Major confounding factors including age, sex, total calorie intake and physical activity level were controlled in all analyses.
resultsSignificantly inverse correlations were found between serum betaine levels and all obesity measurements in males (r ranged from -0.12 to -0.23, and p<0.01 for all) but not in females. Serum choline was negatively associated with total percent body fat (%BF), percent trunk fat (%TF), weight, body mass index (BMI), waist circumference (WC), and waist-to-hip ratio (r ranged from -0.11 to -0.19, and p<0.05 for all) in males and positively associated with weight, BMI and WC (r ranged from 0.09 to 0.10, and p<0.05 for all) in females. The negative associations between serum choline and betaine levels with obesity in males were more profound in those not on any medication than those taking medications. Moreover, obese males had the lowest serum choline and betaine levels, followed by overweight males, and normal weight males having the highest serum choline and betaine levels, especially in those not taking medications (p<0.05). Likewise, subjects with the highest serum levels of both had the lowest obesity indexes, especially those not taking medications.
conclusionsHigher serum choline and betaine levels were associated with a more favorable body composition (lower body fat and higher lean body mass) in males and the favorable association was more pronounced in non-medication users.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What Socratic holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the Socratic graph.