Funded in part by Egg Nutrition Center
Whole egg consumption increases plasma choline and betaine without affecting TMAO levels or gut microbiome in overweight postmenopausal women
Zhu C, Sawrey-Kubicek L, Bardagjy AS, Houts H, Tang X, Sacchi R, Randolph JM, Steinberg FM, Zivkovic AM
Nutrition research (New York, N.Y.) · 38 citations
Review labels
Neutral facts our review recorded about how this study was done. They describe method, never whether we like the result.
How it was studied
- Design
- Randomized controlled trial (indexed by PubMed)
- Studied in
- People
- Main outcome
- Health markers and function
- Intake measured by
- Food provided by researchers
Who paid for it
- Funding
- Industry funded
- Government
- U.S. Department of Agriculture
- Industry group
- Egg Nutrition Center
- University or hospital
- West Coast Metabolomics Center, University of California, Davis
Based on 3 listed funder(s).
Publication
- Published
- 2020-04-22 · Nutr Res · vol. 78 · pp. 36–41
- Publisher
- Elsevier BV
- Cited
- 52 citations · more than 91% of similar papers · 2.7× the field average
- Impact
- Top 10% most cited in its field
- References
- 33 works
- Access
- Open access (hybrid journal) · CC-BY-NC-ND
- Research areas
- Gut microbiota and health · Folate and B Vitamins Research · Diet and metabolism studies
- Keywords
- Betaine, Trimethylamine N-oxide, Choline, Microbiome, Gut flora, Yolk, Lachnospiraceae, Trimethylamine, Endocrinology, Internal medicine, Overweight, Biology, Physiology, Chemistry, Food science, Medicine, Biochemistry, Obesity, Firmicutes, Bioinformatics
- MeSH
- feces, humans, bacteria, obesity, choline, betaine, methylamines, diet, cross-over studies, postmenopause, eggs, aged, middle aged, female, overweight, gastrointestinal microbiome
9 authors
From US
- Chenghao ZhuUniversity of California, Davis
- Lisa Sawrey‐KubicekUniversity of California, Davis
- Allison S. BardagjyUniversity of California, Davis
- Hannah HoutsUniversity of California, Davis
- Xinyu TangUniversity of California, Davis
- Romina SacchiUniversity of California, Davis
Abstract
As a crucial part of the symbiotic system, the gut microbiome is metabolically connected to many diseases and conditions, including cardiovascular diseases (CVD). Trimethylamine (TMA) is produced by gut bacteria from dietary choline, betaine, or L-carnitine, and is then converted in the liver to Trimethylamine N-oxide (TMAO), which in turn affects hepatic and intestinal lipid metabolism. Circulating TMAO is positively associated with CVD risk. Because eggs are rich in choline, it has been speculated that their consumption may increase plasma TMAO. In this study, we hypothesized that 2 eggs per day increases plasma TMAO level by altering gut microbiome composition in mildly hypercholesterolemic postmenopausal women. In this randomized, cross-over study, 20 overweight, postmenopausal women were given 2 whole eggs and the equivalent amount of yolk-free substitute as breakfast for 4 weeks, in randomized order, with a 4-week washout in between. Fasting blood draws and stool were collected at the beginning and end of each treatment period. Plasma TMAO, choline, betaine and other metabolites were analyzed using LC/MS, while gut microbiome composition was analyzed using 16S amplicon sequencing. Plasma choline and betaine were significantly increased after whole egg but not yolk-free substitute, however TMAO level was not significantly affected by treatments. Gut microbiome composition showed large inter-individual variability at baseline and in response to the treatments. The consumption of 2 eggs per day in overweight, postmenopausal mildly hypercholesterolemic women significantly increased plasma choline and betaine, but did not increase plasma TMAO or alter gut microbiome composition.
Abstract via Europe PMC. Copyright remains with the authors or publisher (CC BY-NC-ND).
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