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Ethnicity and Folate Influence Choline Status in Young Women Consuming Controlled Nutrient Intakes

Human Nutrition and Food Science Department (J.H., C.M.A., R.L., M.A.C.)
Animal and Veterinary Sciences Department (W.W.)
Biological Sciences Department (D.J.M.), Cal Poly Pomona, Pomona, California

Address reprint requests to: Dr. Marie A. Caudill, who is now at Cornell University, Division of Nutritional Sciences, 228 Savage Hall, Ithaca, NY 14853. E-mail: mac379{at}cornell.edu

Objective: We previously demonstrated that choline and folate are interrelated and that African American women have lower folate nutriture than Caucasian and Mexican American women under conditions of controlled folate intake. The present study sought to examine the influences of ethnicity and controlled folate intake on choline status.

Methods: Forty-two women of Mexican American (n = 14), African American (n = 14), and Caucasian American (n = 14) descent consumed a folate restricted diet (135 µg DFE/d) for 7 weeks, followed by 7 weeks of folate treatment with either 400 or 800 µg DFE/d. Total choline intake remained unchanged throughout the study at approximately 350 mg/d. Plasma choline and its derivatives were measured by LC-MS/MS at weeks 0, 7, and 14.

Results: Plasma phosphatidylcholine declined during folate restriction (P < 0.001) and tended to increase in response to 800 µg DFE/d (week x folate, P = 0.099) in Mexican American and Caucasian women. For African American women, however, phosphatidylcholine continued to decline (week x race, P = 0.056). Plasma betaine was modified by ethnicity and level of folate intake (week x race x folate, P = 0.039) however no clear patterns emerged.

Conclusions: The phosphatidylcholine data suggest that the lower folate status observed in African American women may also be associated with lower choline status. In turn, diseases linked to folate may also be linked to choline.

Abbreviations: DFE = dietary folate equivalents • HDL-C = high density lipoprotein cholesterol • LDL-C = low density lipoprotein cholesterol • MTHFR = methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase • THF = tetrahydrofolate • VLDL-C = very low density lipoprotein cholesterol