NMR Metabolite Profiles in Male Meat-Eaters, Fish-Eaters, Vegetarians and Vegans, and Comparison with MS Metabolite Profiles.

Julie A Schmidt,Marc J Gunter,Augustin Scalbert,Ruth C Travis,Timothy J Key,Georgina K Fensom,Sabina Rinaldi,Michael V Holmes

doi:10.3390/metabo11020121

Abstract

Metabolomics may help to elucidate mechanisms underlying diet-disease relationships and identify novel risk factors for disease. To inform the design and interpretation of such research, evidence on diet-metabolite associations and cross-assay comparisons is needed. We aimed to compare nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) metabolite profiles between meat-eaters, fish-eaters, vegetarians and vegans, and to compare NMR measurements to those from mass spectrometry (MS), clinical chemistry and capillary gas-liquid chromatography (GC). We quantified 207 serum NMR metabolite measures in 286 male participants of the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC)-Oxford cohort. Using univariate and multivariate analyses, we found that metabolite profiles varied by diet group, especially for vegans; the main differences compared to meat-eaters were lower levels of docosahexaenoic acid, total n-3 and saturated fatty acids, cholesterol and triglycerides in very-low-density lipoproteins, various lipid factions in high-density lipoprotein, sphingomyelins, tyrosine and creatinine, and higher levels of linoleic acid, total n-6, polyunsaturated fatty acids and alanine. Levels in fish-eaters and vegetarians differed by metabolite measure. Concentrations of 13 metabolites measured using both NMR and MS, clinical chemistry or GC were mostly similar. In summary, vegans’ metabolite profiles were markedly different to those of men consuming animal products. The studied metabolomics platforms are complementary, with limited overlap between metabolite classes.

Highlights

Vegans had the lowest intakes of energy and saturated fatty acids (SFA), and the highest intakes of carbohydrate and polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA)
Most blood samples from meat-eaters arrived at the laboratory by the end of the working day; so did about half of the samples from vegetarians and vegans while the percentage was lowest in fish-eaters
The metabolomics profiles of male meat-eaters, fish-eaters, vegetarians and especially vegans are different. This is mainly due to differences in fatty acids

Summary

Introduction

Prospective epidemiological evidence suggests that individuals excluding some (e.g., fish-eaters and vegetarian) or all animal products (vegans) from their diets may have different risks of some major non-communicable diseases compared to meat-eaters. This includes lower risks of coronary heart disease [2,3,4], some cancers [5,6,7,8], and diabetes [9,10] but possibly an increased risk of stroke [4] and fractures [11], in some or all of the non-meat-eating diet groups. Metabolomics has the potential to reveal underlying mechanisms in such diet-disease relationships [12], because metabolite concentrations reflect dietary, lifestyle, environmental and genetic factors as well as disease states [13]

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