Abstract
Aim:To identify the plasma metabolic profile associated with childhood obesity and its metabolic phenotypes.Materials & methods:The plasma metabolic profile of 65 obese and 37 normal-weight children was obtained using proton NMR spectroscopy. NMR spectra were rationally divided into 110 integration regions, which reflect relative metabolite concentrations, and were used as statistical variables.Results:Obese children show increased levels of lipids, N-acetyl glycoproteins, and lactate, and decreased levels of several amino acids, α-ketoglutarate, glucose, citrate, and cholinated phospholipids as compared with normal-weight children. Metabolically healthy children show lower levels of lipids and lactate, and higher levels of several amino acids and cholinated phospholipids, as compared with unhealthy children.Conclusion:This study reveals new valuable findings in the field of metabolomics and childhood obesity. Although validation should be performed, the proof of principle looks promising and justifies a deeper investigation of the diagnostic possibilities of proton NMR metabolomics in follow-up studies. Trial registration: NCT03014856. Registered January 9, 2017.
Highlights
Proton NMR spectroscopy-based metabolic profiling of plasma shows higher concentrations of lipids, N-acetyl glycoproteins and lactate, and lower concentrations of several amino acids, α-ketoglutarate, glucose, citrate and cholinated phospholipids in obese compared with normal-weight children
Metabolites that significantly differ between obese and normal-weight children might point toward an activation of the hexosamine pathway, a proinflammatory state, an impaired tricarboxylic acid cycle and perturbations in lipid and cholinated phospholipid metabolism in childhood obesity
Healthy obese children show increased plasma levels of branched-chain amino acids as compared with their unhealthy counterparts which might point to an increased gluconeogenic drive, as typically observed in diabetes
Summary
To identify the plasma metabolic profile associated with childhood obesity and its metabolic phenotypes. The main objective of this study was to investigate and compare plasma metabolic profiles of obese and normal-weight children using an untargeted 1H NMR-based metabolomics approach
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