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Published on: February 2, 2017
Gut Microbiota Metabolite TMAO and Adolescent Cardiometabolic Health: A Cross-sectional Analysis
Fernando de Quadros Iorra1, Paula Godinho Rodrigues2, Patrícia Martins Bock3,4
1Postgraduate Program in Medical Sciences: Endocrinology, Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul, Porto Alegre 90035-903, Brazil.
Background:
Trimethylamine N-oxide (TMAO) is a metabolite derived from gut microbiota that has been associated with cardiovascular and metabolic disease risk in adults. However, its role in assessing cardiometabolic risk in adolescents is unclear.
Objective:
This study investigates the association between serum TMAO levels and cardiometabolic health indicators in Brazilian adolescents.
Materials And Methods:
This is a multicenter, cross-sectional analysis involving 4446 participants aged 12 to 17 years from four Brazilian cities. Serum TMAO levels were quantified using liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry, and associations with clinical, metabolic, and inflammatory variables were evaluated through multivariate linear regression analyses.
Results:
After adjusting for potential confounders, being in the highest tertile of serum TMAO was positively associated with waist circumference [β 1.45; 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.77, 2.14; P < .001], body mass index Z-score (β .19; 95% CI 0.10, 0.27; P < .001), and C-reactive protein (β .24; 95% CI 0.13, 0.34; P < .001). A negative association between the highest tertile of TMAO and fasting plasma glucose was also observed (β -1.22; 95% CI -1.77, -0.66; P < .001).
Conclusion:
TMAO may serve as an emerging biomarker for cardiometabolic risk assessment in adolescents.
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