J Nutr. 2023 Oct 31:S0022-3166(23)72678-3. doi: 10.1016/j.tjnut.2023.10.024. Online ahead of print.
ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: Nutrimetabolomics allows for the comprehensive analysis of foods and human biospecimens to identify biomarkers of intake and begin to probe their associations with health. Salmon contains hundreds of compounds which may provide cardiometabolic benefits.
OBJECTIVE: We used untargeted metabolomics to identify salmon food-specific compounds (FSCs) and their predicted metabolites that were found in plasma after a salmon-containing Mediterranean-style (MED) diet intervention. Associations between changes in salmon FSCs and changes in cardiometabolic health indicators (CHIs) were also explored.
METHODS: For this secondary analysis of a randomized, crossover, controlled feeding trial, 41 participants consumed MED diets with two servings of salmon per week for two five-week periods. CHIs were assessed and fasting plasma was collected pre- and post-intervention. Plasma, salmon, and 99 MED foods were analyzed using liquid chromatography mass spectrometry-based metabolomics. Compounds were characterized as salmon FSCs if detected in all salmon replicates but none of the other foods. Metabolites of salmon FSCs were predicted using machine learning. For salmon FSCs and metabolites found in plasma, linear mixed-effect models were used to assess change from pre- to post-intervention and associations with changes in CHIs.
RESULTS: Relative to the other 99 MED foods, there were 508 salmon FSCs with 237 unique metabolites. A total of 143 salmon FSCs and 106 metabolites were detected in plasma. Forty-eight salmon FSCs and 30 metabolites increased after the intervention (FDR<0.05). Increases in two annotated salmon FSCs and two metabolites were associated with improvements CHIs, including total cholesterol, LDL cholesterol, triglycerides, and Apolipoprotein B.
CONCLUSIONS: A data-driven nutrimetabolomics strategy identified salmon FSCs and their predicted metabolites that were detectable in plasma and changed after consumption of a salmon-containing MED diet. Findings support this approach for discovery of compounds in foods that may serve, upon further validation, as biomarkers or act as bioactive components influential to health.
CLINICAL TRIAL REGISTRY NUMBER: NCT02573129 (original Mediterranean-style diet intervention); NCT05500976 (ongoing clinical trial).
PMID:37918675 | DOI:10.1016/j.tjnut.2023.10.024
