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Branched-chain amino acids linked to incident diabetes
Significant associations are found between plasma branched-chain amino acids and incident diabetes, insulin sensitivity and insulin clearance, study results show.
These associations appear to differ across ethnic groups and are stronger in whites and Hispanics than in blacks, according to researchers.
Anthony J. Hanley, PhD, associate professor in the department of nutritional sciences at the University of Toronto, and colleagues evaluated 685 patients without diabetes (median age, 54 years; 40% white; 24% black; 34% Hispanic) from the Insulin Resistance Atherosclerosis Study.
Anthony J. Hanley
Inverse associations were found between elevated plasma branched-chain amino acids and insulin sensitivity (P < .001) and metabolic clearance rate of insulin (P < .001); a positive association was found for fasting insulin (P < .001). Ethnicity influenced the association between branched-chain amino acids and insulin sensitivity, and this correlation was significant only in whites and Hispanics.
Increased levels of branched-chain amino acids were linked to incident diabetes in whites and Hispanics (P = .002), but not in blacks. No link was found between plasma branched-chain amino acids and insulin sensitivity-adjusted acute insulin response.
“We observed significant associations of plasma [branched-chain amino acids] with diabetes incidence, insulin sensitivity and insulin clearance, although these relationships differed across ethnic groups,” the researchers wrote. “These findings extend the scientific literature on the role of plasma [branched-chain amino acids] in the etiology of type 2 diabetes and highlight the need for additional studies in well-characterized multiethnic cohorts.” – by Jennifer Byrne
Disclosure: One of the researchers is an employee of Metabolon Inc.