| Description | Betaine aldehyde, also known as BTL, belongs to the class of organic compounds known as tetraalkylammonium salts. These are organonitrogen compounds containing a quaternary ammonium substituted with four alkyl chains. Betaine aldehyde is an extremely weak basic (essentially neutral) compound (based on its pKa). In humans, betaine aldehyde is involved in betaine metabolism. Outside of the human body, betaine aldehyde has been detected, but not quantified in, several different foods, such as sourdoughs, summer savouries, loganberries, burbots, and celery stalks. This could make betaine aldehyde a potential biomarker for the consumption of these foods. Betaine aldehyde is an intermediate in the metabolism of glycine, serine, and threonine. The human aldehyde dehydrogenase (EC 1.2.1.3) facilitates the conversion of betaine aldehyde into glycine betaine. Betaine aldehyde is a substrate for choline dehydrogenase (PMID: 12467448 , 7646513 ). |
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