Prospective associations of maternal betaine status with offspring weight and body composition at birth: the Growing Up in Singapore Towards healthy Outcomes (GUSTO) cohort study

Background: Betaine supplementation results in lower body weight and fat mass and higher lean mass in animals and adult humans. However, the relation between maternal betaine status and offspring birth weight and body composition is less known. Objective: The aim was to examine the association between maternal betaine status and neonatal birth size and adiposity in an Asian mother-offspring cohort. Design: We included 955 pregnant women whose plasma betaine concentrations were measured at 26-28 wk of gestation. Neonatal anthropometric values were measured at birth, and abdominal adipose tissue compartments were assessed by MRI in a subset of infants (n = 307) in the first 14 d after birth. Multivariate general linear models were used to adjust for gestational age; fetal sex; and maternal age, height, education, ethnicity, prepregnancy body mass index, and plasma folate, vitamin B-12, and choline concentrations. Results: The mean +/- SD plasma concentration of betaine was 13.2 +/- 2.7 mu mol/L (range: 5.3-25.0 mu mol/L). After adjustment for Covariates, higher maternal plasma betaine was associated with lower birth weight (beta: -57.6 g; 95% Cl: -109.9, -5.3 g), shorter birth length (beta: -0.29 cm per 5-mu mol/L increment; 95% Cl: -0.55, -0.03 cm), smaller head circumference (-0.20 cm; 95% CI: -0.38, -0.02 cm), smaller midupper arm circumference (-0.16 cm; 95% CI: -0.30, -0.03 cm), lower volumes of abdominal superficial subcutaneous adipose tissue (-4.53 mL; 95% CI: -8.70, -0.36 mL), and a higher risk of small-for-gestational age birth (OR: 1.57; 95% CI: 1.05, 2.35). Conclusions: Higher maternal betaine status was generally associated with smaller infant birth size and less abdominal fat mass. Further studies are needed to replicate these findings and to understand their biological mechanisms.