Human Blood Lipoprotein Predictions from 1H NMR Spectra: Protocol, Model Performances, and Cage of Covariance

Plasma lipoprotein subclass variation in middle-aged and older adults: Sex-stratified distributions and associations with health status and cardiometabolic risk factors

BACKGROUND

Circulating lipids and lipoproteins mediate cardiovascular risk, however routine plasma lipid biochemistry provides limited information on pro-atherogenic remnant particles.

OBJECTIVE

We analysed plasma lipoprotein subclasses including very low-density and intermediate-density lipoprotein (VLDL and IDL); and assessed their associations with health and cardiometabolic risk.

METHODS

From 1,976 community-dwelling adults aged 45-67 years, 114/1071 women (10.6%) and 153/905 men (16.9%) were categorised as very healthy. Fasting plasma lipoprotein profiles comprising 112 parameters were measured using 1H nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy, and associations with health status and cardiometabolic risk factors examined.

RESULTS

HDL cholesterol was higher, and IDL and VLDL cholesterol and triglycerides lower, in very healthy women compared to other women, and women compared to men. IDL and VLDL cholesterol and triglyceride were lower in very healthy men compared to other men. HDL cholesterol and apolipoprotein (apo) A-I were inversely, and IDL and VLDL cholesterol, apoB-100, and apoB-100/apoA-I ratio directly associated with body mass index (BMI) in women and men. In women, LDL, IDL and VLDL cholesterol increased with age. Women with diabetes and cardiovascular disease had higher cholesterol, triglycerides, phospholipids and free cholesterol across IDL and VLDL fractions, with similar trends for men with diabetes.

CONCLUSION

Lipoprotein subclasses and density fractions, and their lipid and apolipoprotein constituents, are differentially distributed by sex, health status and BMI. Very healthy women and men are distinguished by favorable lipoprotein profiles, particularly lower concentrations of VLDL and IDL, providing reference intervals for comparison with general populations and adults with cardiometabolic risk factors.

Human blood plasma biomarkers of diet and weight loss among centrally obese subjects in a New Nordic Diet intervention

Scope

The New Nordic Diet (NND) has been shown to promote weight loss and lower blood pressure amongst obese people. This study investigates blood plasma metabolite and lipoprotein biomarkers differentiating subjects who followed Average Danish Diet (ADD) or NND. The study also evaluates how the individual response to the diet is reflected in the metabolic differences between NND subjects who lost or maintained their pre-intervention weight.

Methods

Centrally obese Danes (BMI >25) followed NND (90 subjects) or ADD (56 subjects) for 6 months. Fasting blood plasma samples, collected at three time-points during the intervention, were screened for metabolites and lipoproteins (LPs) using proton nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy. In total, 154 metabolites and 65 lipoproteins were analysed.

Results

The NND showed a relatively small but significant effect on the plasma metabolome and lipoprotein profiles, with explained variations ranging from 0.6% for lipoproteins to 4.8% for metabolites. A total of 38 metabolites and 11 lipoproteins were found to be affected by the NND. The primary biomarkers differentiating the two diets were found to be HDL-1 cholesterol, apolipoprotein A1, phospholipids, and ketone bodies (3-hydroxybutyric acid, acetone, and acetoacetic acid). The increased levels of ketone bodies detected in the NND group inversely associated with the decrease in diastolic blood pressure of the NND subjects. The study also showed that body weight loss among the NND subjects was weakly associated with plasma levels of citrate.

Conclusion

The main plasma metabolites associated with NND were acetate, methanol and 3-hydroxybutyrate. The metabolic changes associated with the NND-driven weight loss are mostly pronounced in energy and lipid metabolism.

Associations between sheep meat intake frequency and blood plasma levels of metabolites and lipoproteins in healthy Uzbek adults

INTRODUCTION

Uzbekistan is one of the countries with the highest number of diet-related chronic diseases, which is believed to be associated with high animal fat intake. Sheep meat is high in fats (~ 5% in muscle), including saturated and monounsaturated fatty acids, and it contains nearly twice the higher amounts of n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids and conjugated linoleic acids compared to beef. Nevertheless, sheep meat is considered health promoting by the locals in Uzbekistan and it accounts for around 1/3 of red meat intake in the country.

OBJECTIVES

The aim of this study was to apply a metabolomics approach to investigate if sheep meat intake frequency (SMIF) is associated with alterations in fasting blood plasma metabolites and lipoproteins in healthy Uzbek adults.

METHODS

The study included 263 subjects, 149 females and 114 males. For each subject a food intake questionnaire, including SMIF, was recorded and fasting blood plasma samples were collected for metabolomics. Blood plasma metabolites and lipoprotein concentrations were determined using ¹H NMR spectroscopy.

RESULTS AND CONCLUSION

The results showed that SMIF was confounded by nationality, sex, body mass index (BMI), age, intake frequency of total meat and fish in ascending order (p < 0.01). Multivariate and univariate data analyses showed differences in the levels of plasma metabolites and lipoproteins with respect to SMIF. The effect of SMIF after statistical adjustment by nationality, sex, BMI, age, intake frequency of total meat and fish decreased but remained significant. Pyruvic acid, phenylalanine, ornithine, and acetic acid remained significantly lower in the high SMIF group, whereas choline, asparagine, and dimethylglycine showed an increasing trend. Levels of cholesterol, apolipoprotein A1, as well as low- and high-density lipoprotein subfractions all displayed a decreasing trend with increased SMIF although the difference were not significant after FDR correction.

Alterations of NMR-Based Lipoprotein Profile Distinguish Unstable Angina Patients with Different Severity of Coronary Lesions

Non-invasive detection of unstable angina (UA) patients with different severity of coronary lesions remains challenging. This study aimed to identify plasma lipoproteins (LPs) that can be used as potential biomarkers for assessing the severity of coronary lesions, determined by the Gensini score (GS), in UA patients. We collected blood plasma from 67 inpatients with angiographically normal coronary arteries (NCA) and 230 UA patients, 155 of them with lowGS (GS ≤ 25.4) and 75 with highGS (GS > 25.4), and analyzed it using proton nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy to quantify 112 lipoprotein variables. In a logistic regression model adjusted for four well-known risk factors (age, sex, body mass index and use of lipid-lowering drugs), we tested the association between each lipoprotein and the risk of UA. Combined with the result of LASSO and PLS-DA models, ten of them were identified as important LPs. The discrimination with the addition of selected LPs was evaluated. Compared with the basic logistic model that includes four risk factors, the addition of these ten LPs concentrations did not significantly improve UA versus NCA discrimination. However, thirty-two selected LPs showed notable discrimination power in logistic regression modeling distinguishing highGS UA patients from NCA with a 14.9% increase of the area under the receiver operating characteristics curve. Among these LPs, plasma from highGS patients was enriched with LDL and VLDL subfractions, but lacked HDL subfractions. In summary, we conclude that blood plasma lipoproteins can be used as biomarkers to distinguish UA patients with severe coronary lesions from NCA patients.

1-2 Drinks Per Day Affect Lipoprotein Composition after 3 Weeks-Results from a Cross-Over Pilot Intervention Trial in Healthy Adults Using Nuclear Magnetic Resonance-Measured Lipoproteins and Apolipoproteins

Alcohol consumption ranging from 1−2 drinks/day associates with a lower risk of coronary heart disease in some studies. The underlying mechanisms are unclear. The Metabolic Imprints of Alcoholic Beverages (MetAl) trial aimed to explore the short-term effects of moderate alcohol consumption on cardiovascular biomarkers. A 2 × 3-week cross-over single-blinded intervention trial investigating the effect of 1−2 drinks/day (~12−24 g) compared with abstention on 1H Nuclear Magnetic Resonance-measured main lipoproteins and subfractions was performed in 26 healthy adults. Volunteers were classified as occasional or habitual drinkers based on their habitual alcohol intakes (<2 or ≥2 drinks/week). Compared with abstention, 1−2 drinks/day increased HDL2a-C (p = 0.004), HDL3-C (p = 0.008), and HDL non-significantly (p = 0.19). Total apoA1 and apoA1 in HDL and its subfractions increased (p < 0.05). Novel findings were a decreased apoB/apoA1 ratio (p = 0.02), and increased HDL2a phospholipid content (p = 0.04). In women alone, the results were similar but attenuated, and LDL-P decreased. Thus, changes in apoA1- and HDL-related biomarkers occur within weeks in moderate drinkers. Compared with abstention, 1−2 drinks/day increased total apoA1 more strongly than HDL-C and increased the cholesterol, apoA1, and phospholipid content of several HDL subfractions. Whether this provides a cardiovascular benefit requires further study. Clinicaltrials.gov: NCT03384147.

Gut Microbiome and Its Cofactors Are Linked to Lipoprotein Distribution Profiles

Increasing evidence indicates that the gut microbiome (GM) plays an important role in dyslipidemia. To date, however, no in-depth characterization of the associations between GM with lipoproteins distributions (LPD) among adult individuals with diverse BMI has been conducted. To determine such associations, we studied blood-plasma LPD, fecal short-chain fatty acids (SCFA) and GM of 262 Danes aged 19–89 years. Stratification of LPD segregated subjects into three clusters displaying recommended levels of lipoproteins and explained by age and body-mass-index. Higher levels of HDL2a and HDL2b were associated with a higher abundance of Ruminococcaceae and Christensenellaceae. Increasing levels of total cholesterol and LDL-1 and LDL-2 were positively associated with Lachnospiraceae and Coriobacteriaceae, and negatively with Bacteroidaceae and Bifidobacteriaceae. Metagenome-sequencing showed a higher abundance of biosynthesis of multiple B-vitamins and SCFA metabolism genes among healthier LPD profiles. Metagenomic-assembled genomes (MAGs) affiliated to Eggerthellaceae and Clostridiales were contributors of these genes and their relative abundance correlated positively with larger HDL subfractions. The study demonstrates that differences in composition and metabolic traits of the GM are associated with variations in LPD among the recruited subjects. These findings provide evidence for GM considerations in future research aiming to shed light on mechanisms of the GM–dyslipidemia axis.

NMR-Based Metabolomics to Decipher the Molecular Mechanisms in the Action of Gut-Modulating Foods

Metabolomics deals with uncovering and characterizing metabolites present in a biological system, and is a leading omics discipline as it provides the nearest link to the biological phenotype. Within food and nutrition, metabolomics applied to fecal samples and bio-fluids has become an important tool to obtain insight into how food and food components may exert gut-modulating effects. This review aims to highlight how nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR)-based metabolomics in food and nutrition science may help us get beyond where we are today in understanding foods’ inherent, or added, biofunctionalities in relation to gut health.