Dietary Betaine Attenuates Obesity: Involvement of Hepatic MicroRNAs

Abstract

Obesity affects more than one people in three and reduces life expectancy by 5–20 years globally. Dietary intervention is a preferred strategy for prevention and treatment of obesity. Betaine is a derivative of glycine widely distributed in food, and it functions as a methyl donor and osmolyte. Recent studies revealed betaine as a metabolism modulator, but the underlying mechanisms are largely unknown. In this study, high energy diet-induced obesity mice were administrated with betaine at 120 mg/kg bodyweight daily by gavage for 4 weeks. By histology, biochemistry and hormones analysis, dietary betaine was revealed to attenuate obesity by normalizing glucose and lipid metabolism significantly. Subsequently, the hepatic microRNA expression was determined by real-time PCR. It was found that betaine treatment reversed the elevated miR-27a, miR-27b, miR-34a, miR-200b and miR-223 in obese mice. These data confirmed the anti-obesity effect of dietary betaine and provided a novel perspective for understanding its underlying mechanisms.