Plasma metabolomic signatures of the American Heart Association diet score: findings from the Boston Puerto Rican Health Study

Authors: HASLAM, DANIELLE - Harvard University; LI, JUN - Harvard University; LIANG, LIMING - Harvard University; CLISH, CLARY - Broad Institute Of Mit/harvard; LICHTENSTEIN, ALICE - Jean Mayer Human Nutrition Research Center On Aging At Tufts University; Lai, Chao Qiang; ORDOVAS, JOSE - Jean Mayer Human Nutrition Research Center On Aging At Tufts University; MANSON, JOANN - Harvard University; WITTENBECHER, CLEMENS - Harvard University; HU, FRANK - Harvard University; QI, QIBIN - Harvard University; TUCKER, KATHERINE - University Of Massachusetts; BHUPATHIRAJU, SHILPA - Harvard University

Submitted to: Circulation
Publication Type: Abstract Only
Publication Acceptance Date: 2/20/2020
Publication Date: 3/2/2020
Citation: Haslam, D., Li, J., Liang, L., Clish, C., Lichtenstein, A.H., Lai, C., Ordovas, J.M., Manson, J.E., Wittenbecher, C., Hu, F.B., Qi, Q., Tucker, K.L., Bhupathiraju, S.N. 2020. Plasma metabolomic signatures of the American Heart Association diet score: findings from the Boston Puerto Rican Health Study. Circulation. 141:Abstract 52. https://doi.org/10.1161/circ.141.suppl_1.52.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1161/circ.141.suppl_1.52

Interpretive Summary:

Technical Abstract: Introduction: Puerto Rican adults living on the US mainland tend to have poor quality diets and adverse cardiometabolic risk. Plasma metabolomic signatures reflect dietary intakes and variability in metabolic response to diet. Hypothesis: A plasma metabolomic signature reflecting adherence to the American Heart Association (AHA) dietary guidelines will be associated with cardiometabolic risk. Methods: We used LC/MS to measure plasma metabolites (>700) among Boston Puerto Rican Health Study participants, aged 45-75 years, without (n=252) and with (n=254) type 2 diabetes (T2D). We calculated a modified version of a previously validated AHA diet score (AHA-DS), which included variety and amounts of fruits/vegetables, whole grains, fish, saturated fat, trans fat, sodium, and added sugars. We used elastic net regression to identify a metabolomic signature that associated with higher adherence to the AHA-DS among those without T2D (training set) and replicated the associations among those with T2D (testing set). A metabolomic score was calculated as the weighted sum of the diet associated metabolites. We used general linear models to determine the cross-sectional associations between the AHA-DS, metabolomic score, and cardiometabolic risk factors. Results: A diet-associated metabolomic signature with 58 metabolites, primarily lipids and amino acids, was identified. This metabolomic score correlated moderately with the AHA-DS among those with and without T2D (r=0.42-0.46, P<5.7x10^-12). In all participants (n=506), the metabolomic score, but not the AHA-DS, was significantly associated with higher HDL-C and LDL-C concentrations, and lower waist circumference (P<0.004; Table 1). No associations were observed for triglyceride concentrations, glycemia measures, or blood pressure. Conclusions: In individuals of Puerto Rican descent, we identified a metabolomic signature that reflected adherence and metabolic response to the AHA dietary guidelines and that associated with cardiometabolic risk factors.