Skip to main content
ARS Home » Northeast Area » Boston, Massachusetts » Jean Mayer Human Nutrition Research Center On Aging » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #348984
Title: Serum untargeted metabolomic profile of the Dietary Approach to Stop Hypertension (DASH) dietary pattern

Author
item REBHOLZ, CASEY - Johns Hopkins University
item LICHTENSTEIN, ALICE - Jean Mayer Human Nutrition Research Center On Aging At Tufts University
item ZHENG, ZIHE - Johns Hopkins University
item APPEL, LAWRENCE - Johns Hopkins University
item CORESH, JOSEF - Johns Hopkins University

Submitted to: The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 4/23/2018
Publication Date: 6/18/2018
Citation: Rebholz, C.M., Lichtenstein, A.H., Zheng, Z., Appel, L.J., Coresh, J. 2018. Serum untargeted metabolomic profile of the Dietary Approach to Stop Hypertension (DASH) dietary pattern. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. https://doi.org/10.1093/ajcn/nqy099.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/ajcn/nqy099

Interpretive Summary: The DASH dietary pattern is recommended for heart disease risk reduction. It is difficult to objectively determine how well an individual is adhering to the pattern. The objective of the study was to determine whether the concentration of compounds in plasma, measured using a relatively new technique called metabolomic profiling, is predictive of adherence to the DASH diet. To address the question, stored serum samples collected after participants were fed a DASH diet or control diet for 8 weeks. The serum levels of 97 known metabolites were significantly different among participants randomized to the DASH diet compared to the control diet. The majority (66%) of these 97 metabolites were lipids. These data indicate that an untargeted metabolomic platform identified different serum levels of metabolites affected by the DASH dietary pattern. Further research is necessary to validate these newly identified metabolites as biomarkers of adherence to the DASH dietary pattern and determine their relevance for disease-associated physiology.

Technical Abstract: Background: The DASH dietary pattern is recommended for cardiovascular disease risk reduction. Assessment of dietary intake has been limited to subjective measures and a few biomarkers from 24-hour urine collections. The purpose of the study was to use metabolomics to identify serum compounds that are associated with adherence to the DASH dietary pattern. Methods: We conducted untargeted metabolomic profiling in stored serum specimens collected from participants at the end of eight weeks on the DASH or control dietary pattern in the DASH trial, a multi-center, randomized clinical feeding study (N=218). Multivariable linear regression was used to determine the associations between the randomized intervention groups and the individual log-transformed metabolites after adjusting for age, sex, race, education, body mass index, and hypertension. Partial least squares-discriminant analysis (PLS-DA) was used to identify a composite of compounds that discriminated between the DASH and control dietary patterns. The area under the curve (C statistic) was calculated as the cumulative ability to distinguish between dietary patterns. Statistical significance was assessed after accounting for multiple comparisons using the Bonferroni method (0.05/818 metabolites = 6.11 x 10^-5).