Associations between Metabolomic Biomarkers of Avocado Intake and Glycemia in the Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis

Authors

Alexis C Wood
Mark O Goodarzi
Mackenzie K Senn
Meghana D Gadgil
Goncalo Graca
Matthew A Allison
Ioanna Tzoulaki
Michael Y Mi
Philip Greenland
Timothy Ebbels
Paul Elliott
Russell P Tracy
David M Herrington
Jerome I Rotter

Publication Date

10-1-2023

Journal

The Journal of Nutrition

DOI

10.1016/j.tjnut.2023.07.013

PMID

37562669

PMCID

PMC10925911

PubMedCentral® Posted Date

8-9-2023

PubMedCentral® Full Text Version

Post-print

Published Open-Access

yes

Keywords

Humans, Female, Aged, Male, Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2, Risk Factors, Persea, Cross-Sectional Studies, Biomarkers, Insulin, Glucose, Atherosclerosis, : biomarker, type 2 diabetes, dysglycemia, metabolomics, personalized nutrition, MUFA, avocado

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Avocado consumption is linked to better glucose homeostasis, but small associations suggest potential population heterogeneity. Metabolomic data capture the effects of food intake after digestion and metabolism, thus accounting for individual differences in these processes.

OBJECTIVES: To identify metabolomic biomarkers of avocado intake and to examine their associations with glycemia.

METHODS: Baseline data from 6224 multi-ethnic older adults (62% female) included self-reported avocado intake, fasting glucose and insulin, and untargeted plasma proton nuclear magnetic resonance metabolomic features (metabolomic data were available for a randomly selected subset; N = 3438). Subsequently, incident type 2 diabetes (T2D) was assessed over an ∼18 y follow-up period. A metabolome-wide association study of avocado consumption status (consumer compared with nonconsumer) was conducted, and the relationship of these features with glycemia via cross-sectional associations with fasting insulin and glucose and longitudinal associations with incident T2D was examined.

RESULTS: Three highly-correlated spectral features were associated with avocado intake at metabolome-wide significance levels (P < 5.3 ∗ 10

CONCLUSIONS: Highly significant associations between glycemia and avocado-related metabolomic features, which serve as biomarkers of the physiological impact of dietary intake after digestion and absorption, compared to modest relationships between glycemia and avocado consumption, highlights the importance of considering individual differences in metabolism when considering diet-health relationships.