Branched-Chain Amino Acids and Their Interactions With Lipid Metabolites for Increased Risk of Gestational Diabetes

• Published in: The journal of clinical endocrinology and metabolism 2022-06, Vol.107 (7), p.e3058-e3065
• Main Authors: Li, Ninghua, Li, Jing, Wang, Hui, Liu, Jinnan, Li, Weiqin, Yang, Kai, Huo, Xiaoxu, Leng, Junhong, Yu, Zhijie, Hu, Gang, Fang, Zhongze, Yang, Xilin
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Amino Acids, Branched-Chain; Branched chain amino acids; Case-Control Studies; Children; Dextrose; Diabetes in pregnancy; Diabetes, Gestational; Fatty Acids; Female; Glucose; Glucose tolerance tests; Health aspects; Humans; Isoleucine; Leucine; Liquid chromatography; Mass spectrometry; Metabolites; Online Only; Pregnancy; Pregnant women; Prospective Studies; Risk Factors; Saturated fatty acids; Type 2 diabetes; Women
• ISSN: 0021-972X; 1945-7197
• DOI: 10.1210/clinem/dgac141

We aimed to explore associations of branched-chain amino acids (BCAA) in early pregnancy with gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM), and whether high BCAAs and lipidomics markers had interactive effects on the risk of GDM. We conducted a 1:1 case-control study (n = 486) nested in a prospective cohort of pregnant women in Tianjin, China. Blood samples were collected at their first antenatal care visit (median 10 gestational weeks). Serum BCAAs, saturated fatty acids (SFA) and lysophosphatidylcholines (LPC) were measured by liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry analysis. Conditional logistic regression was performed to examine associations of BCAAs with the risk of GDM. Interactions between high BCAAs and high SFA16:0 for GDM were examined using additive interaction measures. High serum valine, leucine, isoleucine, and total BCAAs were associated with markedly increased risk of GDM (OR of top vs bottom tertiles: 1.91 [95% CI, 1.22-3.01]; 1.87 [1.20-2.91]; 2.23 [1.41-3.52]; 1.93 [1.23-3.02], respectively). The presence of high SFA16:0 defined as ≥ 17.1 nmol/mL (ie, median) markedly increased the ORs of high leucine alone and high isoleucine alone up to 4.56 (2.37-8.75) and 4.41 (2.30-8.43) for the risk of GDM, with significant additive interaction. After adjustment for LPCs, the ORs were greatly elevated (6.33, 2.25-17.80 and 6.53, 2.39-17.86) and the additive interactions became more significant. BCAAs in early pregnancy were positively associated with the risk of GDM, and high levels of leucine and isoleucine enhanced the risk association of high SFA16:0 with GDM, independent of LPCs.