title: Choline and betaine intakes are associated with reduced risk of nasopharyngeal carcinoma in adults: a case-control study.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Intakes of choline and betaine have been inversely related to the risk of various neoplasms, but scant data exist on nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC). We examined the association between consumption of choline and betaine and risk of NPC.
  
  
  METHODS
  We conducted a case-control study with 600 incident NPC patients and 600 controls 1 : 1 matched by age, sex and household type in Guangdong, China. Dietary intake was assessed by a food frequency questionnaire through face-to-face interview.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Intakes of total choline, betaine and choline+betaine were inversely related to NPC after adjustment for various lifestyle and dietary factors (all P-trend <0.001). Adjusted odds ratios (95% CI) for quartile 4 (vs quartile 1) were 0.42 (0.29, 0.61) for total choline, 0.50 (0.35, 0.72) for betaine and 0.44 (0.30, 0.64) for betaine+total choline. Regarding various sources of choline, lower NPC risk was associated with greater intakes of choline from phosphatidylcholine, free choline, glycerophosphocholine and phosphocholine, but not sphingomyelin.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  These findings are consistent with a beneficial effect of choline and betaine intakes on carcinogenesis.
authors.affiliation: Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Food, Nutrition and Health, Department of Medical Statistics & Epidemiology, School of Public Health, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou 510080, China.
authors.forename: F-f
authors.initials: FF
authors.lastname: Zeng
authors.affiliation: 1] Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Food, Nutrition and Health, Department of Medical Statistics & Epidemiology, School of Public Health, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou 510080, China [2] Tactic Training Section of Criminal Investigation, Guangdong Provincial Security Department, Guangzhou 510050, China.
authors.forename: C-h
authors.initials: CH
authors.lastname: Xu
authors.affiliation: 1] Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Food, Nutrition and Health, Department of Medical Statistics & Epidemiology, School of Public Health, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou 510080, China [2] Information Section, Central Hospital of Panyu District, Guangzhou 511400, China.
authors.forename: Y-t
authors.initials: YT
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: Department of Nasopharyngeal Carcinoma, Sun Yat-sen University Cancer Center, Guangzhou 510060, China.
authors.forename: Y-y
authors.initials: YY
authors.lastname: Fan
authors.affiliation: Department of Gynecologic Oncology, Sun Yat-sen University Cancer Center, Guangzhou 510060, China.
authors.forename: X-l
authors.initials: XL
authors.lastname: Lin
authors.affiliation: Sun Yat-sen University Ophthalmic Center, Guangzhou 510060, China.
authors.forename: Y-k
authors.initials: YK
authors.lastname: Lu
authors.affiliation: Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Food, Nutrition and Health, Department of Medical Statistics & Epidemiology, School of Public Health, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou 510080, China.
authors.forename: C-x
authors.initials: CX
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Food, Nutrition and Health, Department of Medical Statistics & Epidemiology, School of Public Health, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou 510080, China.
authors.forename: Y-m
authors.initials: YM
authors.lastname: Chen
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001622:Betaine / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D063646:Carcinogenesis / Q000187:drug effects; D002277:Carcinoma; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D002681:China; D002794:Choline / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D000077274:Nasopharyngeal Carcinoma; D009303:Nasopharyngeal Neoplasms / Q000178:diet therapy* / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000473:pathology*; D012307:Risk Factors; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires
chemical_list: D001622:Betaine; D002794:Choline