Antihypoxic Activities of Betaine in Asphyxia, Haemic and Circulatory Hypoxia Models in Mice

Hypoxia or lack of oxygen in tissues can cause death or serious injury. Betaine is a natural product that is beneficial in some diseases such as obesity, diabetes, cancer, and Alzheimer’s disease. It is found in spinach, shrimp, beets, and grains. This research was conducted to investigate the anti-hypoxic activities of betaine in three experimental models of hypoxia in mice.

Protective effects of betaine at 25, 50, and 100 mg/kg, i.p. against hypoxia-induced lethality in mice were evaluated in three experimental models of hypoxia; asphyctic, haemic, and circulatory. Analysis of variance was performed followed by Newman-Keuls multiple comparisons to determine the differences in means.

In circulatory model, betaine at 50 mg/kg, significantly prolonged mice survival time and showed similar activity to propranolol 30 mg/kg which was used as positive control (P>0.05). At 100 mg/kg, it was more effective than propranolol (P<0.0001). In haemic antihypoxic model, betaine 25 mg/kg, significantly increased survival time and showed the same activity as propranolol 20 mg/kg (P>0.05), while at 100 mg/kg, it was more effective than propranolol (P<0.05). In asphyctic model, betaine 12.5 mg/kg significantly prolonged survival time compared to the control group (P<0.05).

Betaine showed good protective effects against hypoxia in circulatory and heamic models where the drug at 100 mg/kg, was more effective than propranolol at 30 mg/kg.