Urinary Metabolite Profiling to Non-Invasively Monitor the Omega-3 Index: An Exploratory Secondary Analysis of a Randomized Clinical Trial in Young Adults
Brittany C. MacIntyre,
Meera Shanmuganathan,
Shannon L. Klingel,
Zachary Kroezen,
Erick Helmeczi,
Na-Yung Seoh,
Vanessa Martinez,
Adrian Chabowski,
Zeny Feng,
Philip Britz-McKibbin,
David M. Mutch
Affiliations
Brittany C. MacIntyre
Department of Human Health and Nutritional Sciences, University of Guelph, Guelph, ON N1G 2W1, Canada
Meera Shanmuganathan
Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology, McMaster University, Hamilton, ON L8S 3W3, Canada
Shannon L. Klingel
Department of Human Health and Nutritional Sciences, University of Guelph, Guelph, ON N1G 2W1, Canada
Zachary Kroezen
Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology, McMaster University, Hamilton, ON L8S 3W3, Canada
Erick Helmeczi
Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology, McMaster University, Hamilton, ON L8S 3W3, Canada
Na-Yung Seoh
Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology, McMaster University, Hamilton, ON L8S 3W3, Canada
Vanessa Martinez
Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology, McMaster University, Hamilton, ON L8S 3W3, Canada
Adrian Chabowski
Department of Physiology, Medical University of Bialystok, 15-222 Bialystok, Poland
Zeny Feng
Department of Mathematics & Statistics, University of Guelph, Guelph, ON N1G 2W1, Canada
Philip Britz-McKibbin
Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology, McMaster University, Hamilton, ON L8S 3W3, Canada
David M. Mutch
Department of Human Health and Nutritional Sciences, University of Guelph, Guelph, ON N1G 2W1, Canada
The Omega-3 Index (O3I) reflects eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) content in erythrocytes. While the O3I is associated with numerous health outcomes, its widespread use is limited. We investigated whether urinary metabolites could be used to non-invasively monitor the O3I in an exploratory analysis of a previous placebo-controlled, parallel arm randomized clinical trial in males and females (n = 88) who consumed either ~3 g/d olive oil (OO; control), EPA, or DHA for 12 weeks. Fasted blood and first-void urine samples were collected at baseline and following supplementation, and they were analyzed via gas chromatography and multisegment injection–capillary electrophoresis–mass spectrometry (MSI-CE-MS), respectively. We tentatively identified S-carboxypropylcysteamine (CPCA) as a novel urinary biomarker reflecting O3I status, which increased following both EPA and DHA (p p 80.0%), whereas the unknown dianion performed best in discriminating OO from DHA alone (AUC = 93.6%). Candidate urinary biomarkers of the O3I were identified that lay the foundation for a non-invasive assessment of omega-3 status.
