The Metabolite Profiles of the Obese Population Are Gender-Dependent

Abstract

Recent studies have identified that several amino acids, in particular, branched-chain amino acids (BCAAs), increased significantly in obese compared with lean individuals. Additionally, these metabolites were strongly associated with future diabetes, rendering them prognostic markers suitable for obese populations. Here we report a metabonomic study that reveals new findings on the role of these amino acid markers, particularly BCAAs, in a Chinese cohort including 106 healthy obese and 105 healthy lean participants. We found that the BCAAs were correlated with insulin resistance and differentially expressed in obese men, but not in obese women. The results were verified with two independent groups of participants (Chinese, n=105 and American, n=72), demonstrating that the serum metabolite profiles of the obese population are gender-dependent. The study supports the previous findings of a panel of several key metabolites as prognostic markers of obese population, and highlights the need to take into account gender differences when using these markers for risk assessment.

The Relationship between Branched-Chain Amino Acid Related Metabolomic Signature and Insulin Resistance: A Systematic Review

“…However, this positive association was only found in women ( r = 0.354, P = 0.016), which did not reach statistical significance in men ( r = 0.245, P = 0.094), while, in a study on 685 participants, Lee et al [20] found that men had higher level of BCAA as well as BMI, waist-hip ratio, IR, and dietary energy intake compared with women. The gender-dependence was also reported by Xie et al [30]. They presented that BCAA was correlated with IR only in obese Chinese men; similar results were validated by another two cohorts on Chinese and Americans.…”

Integrative Analysis of Transcriptomics, Proteomics, and Metabolomics Data of White Adipose and Liver Tissue of High-Fat Diet and Rosiglitazone-Treated Insulin-Resistant Mice Identified Pathway Alterations and Molecular Hubs

“…11,12,42 As described above, we further detected a number of RNA-, protein-, and metabolite-based biomarker candidates. In particular, we observed up regulation of HFD responsive proteins of TCA cycle and OXPHOS such as SDHB and SUCLG1 in WAT and down regulation of HFD responsive proteins involved in vitamin B metabolism such as PDXDC1 and DHFR in liver.…”

Profiling of Serum Bile Acids in a Healthy Chinese Population Using UPLC–MS/MS

“…Our recent serum metabonomic study on healthy lean and obese subjects showed that the serum metabolite profiles including several BAs (glycolithocholic acid and 12α-hydroxy-3-oxocholadienic acid) of the obese population are gender-dependent. 20 The gender differences in BAs may result in gender-dependent responses to some therapeutic drugs, as several basolateral membrane proteins (such as MRP2, MRP3, and MRP4) that transport BA are also key drug transporters. For example, the total BA concentration was significantly reduced only in men (−18.6%), whereas it remained almost unchanged in women (+0.36%) after fenofibrate, a hypolipidaemic drug, treatment.…”