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Metabolomics identifies changes in fatty acid and amino acid profiles in serum of overweight older adults following a weight loss intervention

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Abstract

The application of metabolomics in nutritional research may be a useful tool to analyse and predict the response to a dietary intervention. The aim of this study was to examine metabolic changes in serum samples following exposure to an energy-restricted diet (−15 % of daily energy requirements) over a period of 8 weeks in overweight and obese older adults (n = 22) using a gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC/MS) metabolomic approach. After 8 weeks, there were significant reductions in weight (7 %) and metabolic improvement (glucose and lipid profiles). Metabolomic analysis found that total saturated fatty acids (SFAs), including palmitic acid (C16:0) and stearic acid (C18:0) and monounsaturated fatty acids (MUFAs), were significantly decreased after the 8-week intervention. Furthermore, palmitoleic acid (C16:1) was found to be a negative predictor of change in body fat loss. Both the total ω-6 and ω-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) significantly decreased, although the overall total amounts of PUFAs did not. The branched chain amino acid (BCAA) isoleucine significantly decreased in the serum samples after the intervention. In conclusion, this study demonstrated that the weight loss intervention based on a hypocaloric diet identified changes in the metabolic profiles of serum in overweight and obese older adults, with a reduction in anthropometric and biochemical parameters also found.

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Acknowledgments

The authors wish to thank the volunteers for their participation in the study and the physician Blanca E. Martínez de Morentín, the nurse Salomé Pérez, as well as the technician Verónica Ciaurriz for excellent technical assistance in the University of Navarra. We thank Ciara Morris and Martina Wallace from University College Dublin for their contribution to this study. Aurora Pérez-Cornago gratefully acknowledges the pre-doctoral research grant from the “Asociación de Amigos Universidad de Navarra”, as well as the mobility grant from the Spanish Government.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Nutrition, Food Science and Physiology, University of Navarra, C/Irunlarrea 1, 31008, Pamplona, Spain

    A. Perez-Cornago, I. Ibero-Baraibar, M. A. Zulet & J. Alfredo Martínez

  2. Institute of Food and Health, University College Dublin, Belfield, Dublin 4, Ireland

    L. Brennan & A. O’Gorman

  3. Department of Nutrition and Health, Federal University of Viçosa, Viçosa, Brazil

    H. H. M. Hermsdorff

  4. CIBER Fisiopatología Obesidad y Nutrición (CIBERObn), Instituto de Salud Carlos III, Madrid, Spain

    M. A. Zulet & J. Alfredo Martínez

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  1. A. Perez-Cornago
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  2. L. Brennan
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  3. I. Ibero-Baraibar
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  4. H. H. M. Hermsdorff
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  5. A. O’Gorman
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  6. M. A. Zulet
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  7. J. Alfredo Martínez
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Correspondence to J. Alfredo Martínez.

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Perez-Cornago, A., Brennan, L., Ibero-Baraibar, I. et al. Metabolomics identifies changes in fatty acid and amino acid profiles in serum of overweight older adults following a weight loss intervention. J Physiol Biochem 70, 593–602 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13105-013-0311-2

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