Metabolites, metabolomics pathways linked to high-sodium diet

A US study has found metabolites and metabolomics pathways that are connected to a high-sodium diet, which include metabolites associated with biotin, propanoate, lysine, and branched-chain amino acids (BCAA) pathways.

“The metabolomics signature for a higher sodium low-potassium diet is associated with multiple components of elevated cardiometabolic risk,” the authors said.

This study explored the association of habitual sodium and potassium intakes, measured by two to four 24-h urine samples with plasma metabolites (quantified using liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry) and metabolomic pathways in a total of 1,028 healthy older adults from the Women’s and Men’s Lifestyle Validation Studies.

The primary exposures included energy-adjusted 24-h urinary sodium excretion, potassium excretion, and sodium-to-potassium ratio, calculated based on energy expenditure derived from the doubly labelled water method. The authors examined the partial association of the metabolomics scores, obtained from elastic net regressions, with cardiometabolic biomarkers.

Higher sodium excretion correlated with 38 metabolites, such as higher piperine, phosphatidylethanolamine, and C5:1 carnitine among others. On the other hand, pathway analysis revealed the association of higher sodium excretion with enhanced biotin and propanoate metabolism, as well as enhanced degradation of lysine and BCAAs.

Notably, quinic acid and proline-betaine were some of the metabolites related to higher potassium and lower sodium-to-potassium ratio.

After adjusting for confounders, the metabolomics score for sodium-to-potassium ratio showed a positive association with fasting insulin (Spearman’s rank correlation coefficient ρ=0.27), C-peptide (ρ=0.30), and triglyceride (ρ=0.46) and a negative association with adiponectin (ρ=‒0.40) and high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (ρ=‒0.42).

“High-sodium and low-potassium intakes are associated with a higher risk of hypertension and cardiovascular disease,” the authors said.