Parenteral betaine as a strategy to prevent fatty liver and improve docosahexaenoic acid and arachidonic acid distribution in parenterally fed neonatal piglets

Kaur, Gagandeep (2019) Parenteral betaine as a strategy to prevent fatty liver and improve docosahexaenoic acid and arachidonic acid distribution in parenterally fed neonatal piglets. Masters thesis, Memorial University of Newfoundland.

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Abstract

Parenterally fed infants carry the risk of developing fatty liver. Hepatic fat is removed by very low density lipoprotein (VLDL) secretion, which requires sufficient phosphatidylcholine (PC) synthesis. PC synthesis depends on choline (CDP-choline pathway) or methionine (PEMT pathway). The PEMT pathway is more important in infants because its PC is rich in DHA and AA, which are used for brain development. Methionine supplementation may enhance PC synthesis but can cause hyperhomocysteinemia. However, betaine could enhance PC synthesis by sparing choline as well as by converting homocysteine to methionine. The objective of this thesis was to assess the effects of parenteral betaine, methionine or its combination on fatty liver and brain DHA/AA. The hepatic lipid parameters were unaltered, but betaine supplementation improved DHA, AA and saturated fatty acids incorporation in brain phospholipids, suggesting that betaine can be used as a novel parenteral nutrition ingredient to improve brain DHA and AA status.

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