Branched-Chain Amino Acid Database Integrated in MEDIPAD Software as a Tool for Nutritional Investigation of Mediterranean Populations

Branched-chained amino acids (BCAA) are essential dietary components for humans and can act as potential biomarkers for diabetes development. To efficiently estimate dietary intake, we developed a BCAA database for 1331 food items found in the French Centre d'Information sur la Qualité des Aliments (CIQUAL) food table by compiling BCAA content from international tables, published measurements, or by food similarity as well as by calculating 267 items from Greek, Turkish, Romanian, and Moroccan mixed dishes. The database embedded in MEDIPAD software capable of registering 24 h of dietary recalls (24HDR) with clinical and genetic data was evaluated based on archived 24HDR of the Saint Pierre Institute (France) from 2957 subjects, which indicated a BCAA content up to 4.2 g/100 g of food and differences among normal weight and obese subjects across BCAA quartiles. We also evaluated the database of 119 interviews of Romanians, Turkish and Albanians in Greece (27⁻65 years) during the MEDIGENE program, which indicated mean BCAA intake of 13.84 and 12.91 g/day in males and females, respectively, comparable to other studies. The MEDIPAD is user-friendly, multilingual, and secure software and with the BCAA database is suitable for conducting nutritional assessment in the Mediterranean area with particular facilities for food administration.

Gender-specific associations of genetic variants with metabolic syndrome components in the Tunisian population

AIM OF THE STUDY

Recent genome-wide association studies (GWASs) have identified many genetic variants associated with metabolic syndrome (MetS). However, their contribution to MetS in ethnic groups in Tunisia is largely unexplored. In this study, we aim to examine the associations of related loci with a risk of metabolic syndrome in a sample of Tunisians.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

Overall seven polymorphisms rs7265718, rs10401969, rs762861, rs12310367, rs1562398, rs2059807, rs4420638 located at C20orf152, CILP2, LRPAP1, ZNF664, KLF14, INSR, APOE, respectively, were analyzed in 356 samples from the Tunisian population. Anthropometric and biochemical parameters were assessed. Metabolic syndrome was defined according to the International Diabetes Federation (IDF).

RESULTS

We find that LRPAP1-rs762861 C allele increases susceptibility to MetS (OR = 1.39, 95% CI = 0.99-1.95, p = 0.041). Separate analysis in men and women revealed the association of rs762861 among females (OR = 1.6, 95% CI = 1.057-2.41, p = 0.021), but not among males (OR = 0.953, 95% CI = 0.51-1.78, p = 0.882). ZNF664-rs12310367 was also found to be associated with body mass index (BMI) in women (p = 0.01) and not in men (p = 0.18). KLF14-rs1562398 was significantly correlated with impaired fasting glucose (p = 0.004) only in men.

CONCLUSIONS

Our results reveal new candidate genes for MetS in the Tunisian population and suggest that the genetic basis of this syndrome is gender dependent. Further studies are necessary to understand why these associations differ between males and females.