Cardiovascular Diabetology (Jan 2024)

Plasma metabolite profile of legume consumption and future risk of type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease

  • Hernando J. Margara-Escudero,
  • Indira Paz-Graniel,
  • Jesús García-Gavilán,
  • Miguel Ruiz-Canela,
  • Qi Sun,
  • Clary B. Clish,
  • Estefania Toledo,
  • Dolores Corella,
  • Ramón Estruch,
  • Emilio Ros,
  • Olga Castañer,
  • Fernando Arós,
  • Miquel Fiol,
  • Marta Guasch-Ferré,
  • José Lapetra,
  • Cristina Razquin,
  • Courtney Dennis,
  • Amy Deik,
  • Jun Li,
  • Enrique Gómez-Gracia,
  • Nancy Babio,
  • Miguel A. Martínez-González,
  • Frank B. Hu,
  • Jordi Salas-Salvadó

DOI
https://doi.org/10.1186/s12933-023-02111-z
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 23, no. 1
pp. 1 – 13

Abstract

Read online

Abstract Background Legume consumption has been linked to a reduced risk of type 2 diabetes (T2D) and cardiovascular disease (CVD), while the potential association between plasma metabolites associated with legume consumption and the risk of cardiometabolic diseases has never been explored. Therefore, we aimed to identify a metabolite signature of legume consumption, and subsequently investigate its potential association with the incidence of T2D and CVD. Methods The current cross-sectional and longitudinal analysis was conducted in 1833 PREDIMED study participants (mean age 67 years, 57.6% women) with available baseline metabolomic data. A subset of these participants with 1-year follow-up metabolomics data (n = 1522) was used for internal validation. Plasma metabolites were assessed through liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry. Cross-sectional associations between 382 different known metabolites and legume consumption were performed using elastic net regression. Associations between the identified metabolite profile and incident T2D and CVD were estimated using multivariable Cox regression models. Results Specific metabolic signatures of legume consumption were identified, these included amino acids, cortisol, and various classes of lipid metabolites including diacylglycerols, triacylglycerols, plasmalogens, sphingomyelins and other metabolites. Among these identified metabolites, 22 were negatively and 18 were positively associated with legume consumption. After adjustment for recognized risk factors and legume consumption, the identified legume metabolite profile was inversely associated with T2D incidence (hazard ratio (HR) per 1 SD: 0.75, 95% CI 0.61–0.94; p = 0.017), but not with CVD incidence risk (1.01, 95% CI 0.86–1.19; p = 0.817) over the follow-up period. Conclusions This study identified a set of 40 metabolites associated with legume consumption and with a reduced risk of T2D development in a Mediterranean population at high risk of cardiovascular disease. Trial registration: ISRCTN35739639.

Keywords