Sex Differences in Energy Metabolism Need to Be Considered with Lifestyle Modifications in Humans

Wu, Betty N.; O’Sullivan, Anthony J

doi:10.1155/2011/391809

Cited by 110 publications

(106 citation statements)

References 66 publications

(79 reference statements)

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“…Higher HDL-C is known to associate with lower cardiovascular risk [17]. Previous reports have shown that lower HDL-C in males associate with lower SM concentrations compared with that in females [19]. Our data are in accordance with these results.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 92%

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Sex differences in the association of phospholipids with components of the metabolic syndrome in young adults

et al. 2017

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BackgroundThere are differences in the prevalence and severity of diseases between males, females not taking hormonal contraceptives (non-HC females) and females taking hormonal contraceptives (HC females). The aim of this study was to identify sex-specific differences in the metabolome and its relation to components of the metabolic syndrome in a young adult population.MethodsThe subjects analysed are from the 20-year follow-up of the Western Australian Pregnancy Cohort (Raine) Study. Two hundred fifteen plasma metabolites were analysed in 1021 fasted plasma samples by a targeted liquid chromatography coupled to tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) metabolomics approach. Principal component analysis between males (n = 550), non-HC females (n = 199) and HC females (n = 269) was applied. Regression analysis with a sex × metabolite concentration interaction was performed on components of the MetS, namely waist circumference, systolic blood pressure, and plasma HDL-C, triglycerides and glucose concentration, as outcome to select the significant metabolites of the interaction. Those selected metabolites were used as predictors in a sex group stratified analysis to compare the different β coefficients and therefore the sex group-dependent associations.ResultsPrincipal component analysis between males, non-HC females, and HC females showed a general discriminating trend between males and HC females. One hundred twenty-seven metabolites were significantly different between males and non-HC females, whereas 97 differed between non-HC females and HC females. Males and non-HC females mainly differed in sphingomyelin, lyso-phosphatidylcholine, acyl-carnitine and amino acid species, whilst non-HC females and HC females mainly differed in phosphatidylcholine, lyso-phosphatidylcholine and acyl-carnitine concentrations. Forty-one metabolites (phosphatidylcholines, sphingomyelines, lyso-phosphatidylcholine) were significantly differently associated with the MetS factors in the different groups.ConclusionsWe have shown clear differences between plasma metabolite concentrations in males, and HC or non-HC females, especially in lyso-phosphatidylcholine, sphingomyelin and phosphatidylcholine, which have been shown to associate with obesity in other studies. The association of these metabolites differed between sexes with components of the metabolic syndrome, which means that development of diseases like obesity and diabetes may differ between the sexes. Our findings highlight the importance of considering sex differences when conducting a metabolomics study and the need to account for the effect of HC usage in females in future studies.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s13293-017-0131-0) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 92%

“…Furthermore, estrogen is associated with an increased availability of fatty acids by lipolysis and also decreases carbohydrate metabolism [19, 31]. …”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Sex differences in the association of phospholipids with components of the metabolic syndrome in young adults

et al. 2017

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“…It may be suggested that human gut microbiota could likewise be impacted by human hormone levels. Moreover, female hormones are involved in glucose and lipid metabolism and are known to exert a protective effect against metabolic disorders (28,29). Therefore, differences in the gut microbiota between male and female mice during metformin treatment might be caused by differences in hormone levels, which might be associated with metabolic phenotypes.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Effect of Metformin on Metabolic Improvement and Gut Microbiota

Lee

2014

Appl Environ Microbiol

328

271

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bMetformin is commonly used as the first line of medication for the treatment of metabolic syndromes, such as obesity and type 2 diabetes (T2D). Recently, metformin-induced changes in the gut microbiota have been reported; however, the relationship between metformin treatment and the gut microbiota remains unclear. In this study, the composition of the gut microbiota was investigated using a mouse model of high-fat-diet (HFD)-induced obesity with and without metformin treatment. As expected, metformin treatment improved markers of metabolic disorders, including serum glucose levels, body weight, and total cholesterol levels. Moreover, Akkermansia muciniphila (12.44% ؎ 5.26%) and Clostridium cocleatum (0.10% ؎ 0.09%) abundances increased significantly after metformin treatment of mice on the HFD. The relative abundance of A. muciniphila in the fecal microbiota was also found to increase in brain heart infusion (BHI) medium supplemented with metformin in vitro. In addition to the changes in the microbiota associated with metformin treatment, when other influences were controlled for, a total of 18 KEGG metabolic pathways (including those for sphingolipid and fatty acid metabolism) were significantly upregulated in the gut microbiota during metformin treatment of mice on an HFD. Our results demonstrate that the gut microbiota and their metabolic pathways are influenced by metformin treatment. Metformin is a common antidiabetic agent in the biguanide class and is known to suppress glucose production in the liver, increase insulin sensitivity, and enhance peripheral glucose uptake in hepatic and skeletal muscle (1). The metformin-induced increase in AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK) plays an important role in energy balance and glucose metabolism; the cellular AMP/ATP ratio is maintained by increasing ATP consumption and decreasing ATP production, which is associated with AMPK activation (2, 3). Recent studies also reported that metformin regulates hepatic gluconeogenesis and improves hyperglycemia independently of the AMPK pathway (4), which suggests that metformin-induced improvement of metabolic disorders is associated with the energy state of the body.The gut microbiota is known to play an important role in harvesting energy from food, metabolic processes, and immune modulation. The composition of the gut microbiota is significantly associated with obesity, type 2 diabetes (T2D), and metabolic syndromes (5-7). Dysbiosis of the gut microbiota is also associated with other diseases, such as inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) (8), cardiovascular disease (9), and autism (10). Recently, metformininduced changes in the abundance of Akkermansia muciniphila were shown to be associated with metabolic improvement (11). Another study reported that treatment with A. muciniphila, which was identified from enterotype gut microbiota, improved metabolic disorders (12). However, other gut microbiota and metabolic pathways related to metformin treatment remain uncharacterized. In addition, the effect of diet and metformin treatmen...

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“…Not only is the effect of early-life SES on RBM stronger for women but also continuity of body weight is more characteristic of women than men. A possible explanation is a sex difference in fat metabolism because women are more efficient than men at energy conservation and its storage as fat (Wu and O'Sullivan, 2011). Another mechanism may be related to women's higher levels of the hormone leptin, which is produced by adipose tissue and helps fat mass to remain relatively constant during adulthood (Wu and O'Sullivan, 2011).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Early-life social origins of later-life body weight: The role of socioeconomic status and health behaviors over the life course

Pudrovska

Logan

Richman

2014

Social Science Research

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Using the 1957-2004 data from the Wisconsin Longitudinal Study, we apply structural equation modeling to examine gender-specific effects of family socioeconomic status (SES) at age 18 on body weight at age 65. We further explore SES and health behaviors over the life course as mechanisms linking family background and later-life body weight. We find that early-life socioeconomic disadvantage is related to higher body weight at age 65 and a steeper weight increase between midlife and late life. These adverse effects are stronger among women than men. Significant mediators of the effect of parents' SES include adolescent body mass (especially among women) as well as exercise and SES in midlife. Yet, consistent with the critical period mechanism, the effect of early-life SES on late-life body weight persists net of all mediating variables. This study expands current understanding of life-course mechanisms that contribute to obesity and increase biological vulnerability to social disadvantage.

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Sex Differences in Energy Metabolism Need to Be Considered with Lifestyle Modifications in Humans

Cited by 110 publications

References 66 publications

Sex differences in the association of phospholipids with components of the metabolic syndrome in young adults

Sex differences in the association of phospholipids with components of the metabolic syndrome in young adults

Effect of Metformin on Metabolic Improvement and Gut Microbiota

Early-life social origins of later-life body weight: The role of socioeconomic status and health behaviors over the life course

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