Figure 2.

Betaine metabolism. (A) Plasma betaine concentration assessed by liquid chromatography–mass spectrometry (LC/MS) is shown. Concentrations are shown for baseline (○) and posttreatment (●). (B) Key aspects of the betaine metabolic pathway. (C) Betaine metabolic pathway intermediates by LC/MS: placebo baseline (white column), placebo posttreatment (gray column), betaine baseline (light gray column), betaine posttreatment (black column). BADH, betaine-aldehyde dehydrogenase; BET, betaine; CHDH, choline dehydrogenase; GNMT, glycine-N-methyltransferase; PBO, placebo; post, after; pre, before; SAH, S-adenosylhomocysteine; SAM, S-adenosylmethionine; SARDH, sarcosine dehydrogenase; SHMT, serine hydroxymethyltransferase. *P < 0.05, **P < 0.01, ***P < 0.001.