TMAO

2022-02-22 links: reference:

Trimethylamine N-Oxide (TMAO) #

Bit of a toxin. Implicated in CVD - strokes, etc. But apparently not demonstrated as carcinogenic in humans.

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  • Choline, or to a lesser extent R Carnitine, are converted in the gut via certain microbes (their enzyme being CutC choline trimethylamine-lyasee) into trimethylamine, which is then metabolized in the liver via FMO3 to TMAO R.
• Dietary Choline Supplements, but Not Eggs, Raise Fasting TMAO Levels in Participants with Normal Renal Function: A Randomized Clinical Trial
• Bitartate raised TMAO but 4 large eggs or phosphatidylcholine had no effect.
• Free Choline, but Not Phosphatidylcholine, Elevates Circulating Trimethylamine-N-oxide and This Response Is Modified by the Gut Microbiota Composition in Healthy Men (2020)
  • 600mg choline bitartate (free choline) raised TMAO in plasma and urine by 295% and 250% respectively. 600mg (“of choline as-” so 4.6g?) phosphatidylcholine had no difference.
  • High-TMAO producers had more abundant lineages of Clostridium from Ruminococcaceae and Lachnospiraceae (in phylum Firmicutes)
• Good review: Intestinal microbiota metabolism of L-carnitine, a nutrient in red meat, promotes atherosclerosis
• Gut flora metabolism of phosphatidylcholine promotes cardiovascular disease
  • i.p was fine, of course, but even DPPC (Dipalmitoylphosphatidylcholine) raised TMAO up to 1.5μM
• Uxkull: “I dont absorb barely any of the carnitine or choline from diet bc the methane producing archea convert it to tmao and use it as a substrate to produce methane”