The increased prevalence of atrial fibrillation (AF) and heart failure (HF) highlights the need to better understand the mechanisms underlying these cardiovascular diseases (CVDs). In the present study, we aimed to evaluate the association between glycolysis-related metabolites and the risk of AF and HF in a Mediterranean population at high risk of CVD. We used two case–control studies nested within the PREDIMED trial. A total of 512 incident AF cases matched to 734 controls, and 334 incident HF cases matched to 508 controls, were included. Plasma metabolites were quantified by using hydrophilic interaction liquid chromatography coupled with high-resolution negative ion mode MS detection. Conditional logistic regression analyses were performed. The results showed no association between baseline plasma glycolysis intermediates and other related metabolites with AF. Only phosphoglycerate was associated with a higher risk of HF (OR for 1 SD increase: 1.28; 95% CI: 1.06, 1.53). The present findings do not support a role of the glycolysis pathway in the pathogenesis of AF. However, the increased risk of HF associated with phosphoglycerate requires further studies.
