Circulating Short-Chain Fatty Acids Are Positively Associated with Adiposity Measures in Chinese Adults

• Published in: Nutrients 2020-07, Vol.12 (7), p.2127
• Main Authors: Wang, Yiqing, Wang, Huijun, Howard, Annie Green, Meyer, Katie A, Tsilimigras, Matthew C B, Avery, Christy L, Sha, Wei, Sun, Shan, Zhang, Jiguo, Su, Chang, Wang, Zhihong, Zhang, Bing, Fodor, Anthony A, Gordon-Larsen, Penny
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Abdomen; Adipose tissue; Adiposity; Adult; Adults; Aged; Animal models; Asians; BMI; Body mass; Body Mass Index; Body size; Body weight; Carbohydrates; Chromatography; Colon - metabolism; Colon - microbiology; Cross-Sectional Studies; Deoxyribonucleic acid; Diet; Dietary Carbohydrates - administration & dosage; Dietary fiber; Dietary Fiber - administration & dosage; Dietary intake; DNA; Energy; Energy harvesting; Epidemiology; Exercise; Fatty acids; Fatty Acids, Volatile - blood; Feces; Female; Fermentation; fiber; Food; Fruits; Gastrointestinal Microbiome; gut metagenome; Human populations; Humans; Intestinal microflora; Legumes; Male; Metabolites; Metabolomics; Microbiota; Microorganisms; Middle Aged; Nutrition research; Obesity; Overweight; Overweight - blood; Plasma; Population studies; Quality control; short-chain fatty acids; Socioeconomic Factors; Statistical analysis; Waist-Hip Ratio; waist-to-height ratio; Weight control
• ISSN: 2072-6643; 2072-6643
• DOI: 10.3390/nu12072127

Epidemiological studies suggest a positive association between obesity and fecal short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs) produced by microbial fermentation of dietary carbohydrates, while animal models suggest increased energy harvest through colonic SCFA production in obesity. However, there is a lack of human population-based studies with dietary intake data, plasma SCFAs, gut microbial, and anthropometric data. In 490 Chinese adults aged 30-68 years, we examined the associations between key plasma SCFAs (butyrate/isobutyrate, isovalerate, and valerate measured by non-targeted plasma metabolomics) with body mass index (BMI) using multivariable-adjusted linear regression. We then assessed whether overweight (BMI ≥ 24 kg/m ) modified the association between dietary-precursors of SCFAs (insoluble fiber, total carbohydrates, and high-fiber foods) with plasma SCFAs. In a sub-sample ( = 209) with gut metagenome data, we examined the association between gut microbial SCFA-producers with BMI. We found positive associations between butyrate/isobutyrate and BMI ( -value < 0.05). The associations between insoluble fiber and butyrate/isobutyrate differed by overweight ( -value < 0.10). There was no statistical evidence for an association between microbial SCFA-producers and BMI. In sum, plasma SCFAs were positively associated with BMI and that the colonic fermentation of fiber may differ for adults with versus without overweight.