Background
Evidence, albeit with conflicting
Conclusion
Change in amino acid, and acylcarnitines profiles were seen in patients with MetS. Moreover, the alteration in the circulating levels of amino acids and acylcarnitines is along with an increase in MetS component number. It also seems that amino acid and acylcarnitines profiles can provide valuable information on evaluating and monitoring MetS risk. However, further studies are needed to establish this concept.
Methods
This cross-sectional study was performed on 1192 participants from the large-scale cross-sectional study of Surveillance of Risk Factors of non-communicable diseases (NCDs) in Iran (STEP 2016). The circulating levels of amino acids and acylcarnitines were measured using liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) in individuals with MetS (n=529) and without MetS (n=663).
Results
The higher plasma levels of branched-chain amino acids (Val, Leu), aromatic amino acids (Phe, Tyr), Pro, Ala, Glu, and the ratio of Asp to Asn were significantly associated with MetS, whereas lower circulating levels of Gly, Ser, His, Asn, and citrulline were significantly associated with MetS. As for plasma levels of free carnitine and acylcarnitines, higher levels of short-chain acylcarnitines (C2, C3, C4DC), free carnitine (C0), and long-chain acylcarnitines (C16, C18OH) were significantly associated with MetS. Principal component analysis (PCA) showed that factor 3 (Tyr, Leu, Val, Met, Trp, Phe, Thr) [OR:1.165, 95% CI: 1.121-1.210, P<0.001], factor 7 (C0, C3, C4) [OR:1.257, 95% CI: 1.150-1.374, P<0.001], factor 8 (Gly, Ser) [OR:0.718, 95% CI: 0.651-0.793, P< 0.001], factor 9 (Ala, Pro, C4DC) [OR:1.883, 95% CI: 1.669-2.124, P<0.001], factor 10 (Glu, Asp, C18:2OH) [OR:1.132, 95% CI: 1.032-1.242, P= 0.009], factor 11 (citrulline, ornithine) [OR:0.862, 95% CI: 0.778-0.955, P= 0.004] and 13 (C18OH, C18:1 OH) [OR: 1.242, 95% CI: 1.042-1.480, P= 0.016] were independently correlated with metabolic syndrome.