Betaine Supplementation Enhances Lipid Metabolism and Improves Insulin Resistance in Mice Fed a High-Fat Diet.

Abstract

Obesity is a major driver of metabolic diseases such as nonalcoholic fatty liver disease, certain cancers, and insulin resistance. However, there are no effective drugs to treat obesity. Betaine is a nontoxic, chemically stable and naturally occurring molecule. This study shows that dietary betaine supplementation significantly inhibits the white fat production in a high-fat diet (HFD)-induced obese mice. This might be due to betaine preventing the formation of new white fat (WAT), and guiding the original WAT to burn through stimulated mitochondrial biogenesis and promoting browning of WAT. Furthermore, dietary betaine supplementation decreases intramyocellular lipid accumulation in HFD-induced obese mice. Further analysis shows that betaine supplementation reduced intramyocellular lipid accumulation might be associated with increasing polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA), fatty acid oxidation, and the inhibition of fatty acid synthesis in muscle. Notably, by performing insulin-tolerance tests (ITTs) and glucose-tolerance tests (GTTs), dietary betaine supplementation could be observed for improvement of obesity and non-obesity induced insulin resistance. Together, these findings could suggest that inhibiting WAT production, intramyocellular lipid accumulation and inflammation, betaine supplementation limits HFD-induced obesity and improves insulin resistance.

• Authors: Jingjing Du, Linyuan Shen, Zhendong Tan, Peiwen Zhang, Xue Zhao, Yan Xu, Mailing Gan, Qiong Yang, Jideng Ma, An'an Jiang, Guoqing Tang, Yanzhi Jiang, Long Jin, Mingzhou Li, Lin Bai, Xuewei Li, Jinyong Wang, Shunhua Zhang, Li Zhu
• Journal: Nutrients (Nutrients) Vol. 10 Issue 2 (Jan 26 2018) ISSN: 2072-6643 [Electronic] Switzerland
• PMID: 29373534 (Publication Type: Journal Article)

Chemical References

• Anti-Obesity Agents
• Hypoglycemic Agents
• Betaine

Topics

• 3T3-L1 Cells
• Adipocytes, White (cytology, metabolism, pathology)
• Adipogenesis
• Adiposity
• Animals
• Animals, Outbred Strains
• Anti-Obesity Agents (therapeutic use)
• Betaine (adverse effects, therapeutic use)
• Diabetes Mellitus, Experimental (blood, diet therapy, metabolism, pathology)
• Diet, High-Fat (adverse effects)
• Dietary Supplements
• Female
• Hyperglycemia (prevention & control)
• Hypoglycemic Agents (therapeutic use)
• Insulin Resistance
• Lipid Droplets (metabolism, pathology)
• Lipid Metabolism
• Mice
• Muscle, Skeletal (metabolism, pathology)
• Obesity (diet therapy, etiology, metabolism, pathology)
• Weight Gain