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Serum betaine but not choline is inversely associated with breast cancer risk: a case–control study in China

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Abstract

Purpose

Choline and betaine are important for DNA methylation and synthesis, and may affect tumor carcinogenesis. To our knowledge, no previous study has examined the association between serum choline and betaine and breast cancer risk. This study aimed to examine whether serum choline and betaine were inversely associated with breast cancer risk among Chinese women.

Methods

This hospital-based case–control study consecutively recruited 510 breast cancer cases and 518 frequency-matched (age and residence) controls, and blood samples were available for 500 cases and 500 controls. Serum choline and betaine were assayed by high-performance liquid chromatography–tandem mass spectrometry. Multiple unconditional logistic regression was used to estimate odds ratios (ORs) and 95 % confidence intervals (CIs).

Results

An inverse association with breast cancer risk was observed for serum betaine (fourth vs first quartile adjusted OR 0.68, 95 % CI 0.47–0.97) and for the ratio of serum betaine to choline (fourth vs first quartile adjusted OR 0.70, 95 % CI 0.48–1.00), but not for serum choline (fourth vs first quartile adjusted OR 0.80, 95 % CI 0.56–1.15). Serum betaine was inversely associated with breast cancer risk in subjects with below-median dietary folate intake (fourth vs first quartile adjusted OR 0.48, 95 % CI 0.30–0.77).

Conclusions

This study suggested that serum betaine but not choline was inversely associated with breast cancer risk. This result needed to be further confirmed by the prospective studies.

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Acknowledgments

This study was supported by Science and Technology Program of Guangzhou, China (no. 201510010151), and the National Natural Science Foundation of China (no. 81102188). The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript. We gratefully acknowledge the cooperation of the study participants.

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Author notes

    Authors and Affiliations

    1. Department of Medical Statistics and Epidemiology, School of Public Health, Sun Yat-sen University, 74 Zhongshan Road 2, Guangzhou, 510080, China

      Yu-Feng Du, Wei-Ping Luo, Bo Yan, Ming Xu & Cai-Xia Zhang

    2. Nursing Department, The First Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, 510080, China

      Fang-Yu Lin

    3. Department of Clinical Laboratory, The First Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, 510080, China

      Wei-Qing Long

    4. Department of Vascular Surgery, The First Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, 510080, China

      Xiong-Fei Mo

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    1. Yu-Feng Du
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    Yu-Feng Du and Fang-Yu Lin contributed equally to this work.

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    Du, YF., Lin, FY., Long, WQ. et al. Serum betaine but not choline is inversely associated with breast cancer risk: a case–control study in China. Eur J Nutr 56, 1329–1337 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00394-016-1183-3

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    • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00394-016-1183-3

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