A novel method to analyze betaine in chicken liver: effect of dietary betaine and choline supplementation on the hepatic betaine concentration in broiler chicks.

Betaine was measured from liver tissue by a high-performance liquid chromatographic (HPLC) method developed for this study. The method involves homogenization of liver in acetate buffer at pH 6 and precipitation of protein with trichloroacetic acid, which was removed by diethyl ether extraction. Betaine was separated using a cation exchange column in Ca(2+) form and detected with a refractive index detector. This method also allows the determination of S-adenosylmethionine (S-AM) from the same liver extract but with different HPLC conditions. Broiler chicks were fed with experimental diets supplemented with four different doses of betaine or choline ranging from 0 to 5 mol equiv. After a 3 week feeding period, the livers were analyzed for betaine and S-AM. Dietary betaine was twice as efficient in increasing the hepatic betaine concentration as dietary choline. The hepatic S-AM concentrations were similar in all dietary treatments.