Diet-derived fruit and vegetable metabolites show sex-specific inverse relationships to osteoporosis status

Mangano, Kelsey M.<sup>1</sup>; Noel, Sabrina E.<sup>1</sup>; Lai, Chao-Qiang<sup>2</sup>; Christensen, Jacob J.<sup>3,4</sup>; Ordovas, Jose M.<sup>5</sup>; Dawson-Hughes, Bess<sup>6</sup>; Tucker, Katherine L.<sup>1</sup>; Parnell, Laurence D.<sup>2</sup>

Affiliations

¹Department of Biomedical and Nutritional Sciences and Center for Population Health, University of Massachusetts Lowell, 3 Solomont Way, 01854 Lowell, MA, USA

²USDA Agricultural Research Service, Nutrition and Genomics Laboratory, JM-USDA Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging at Tufts University, 711 Washington St, Boston, MA 02111, USA

³Norwegian National Advisory Unit on Familial Hypercholesterolemia, Department of Endocrinology, Morbid Obesity and Preventive Medicine, Oslo University Hospital, Forskningsveien 2B, 0373 Oslo, Norway

⁴Department of Nutrition, Institute of Basic Medical Sciences, University of Oslo, Sognsvannsveien 9, 0315 Oslo, Norway

⁵Nutrition and Genomics Laboratory, JM-USDA Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging at Tufts University, 711 Washington St, 02111 Boston, MA, USA

⁶Bone Metabolism Laboratory, Jean Mayer U.S. Department of Agriculture Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging, Tufts University, 711 Washington Street, 02111 Boston, MA, USA

Abstract and keywords

Background: The impact of nutrition on the metabolic profile of osteoporosis (OS) is unknown.

Objective: Identify biochemical factors driving the association of fruit and vegetable (FV) intakes with OS prevalence using an untargeted metabolomics approach.

Design: Cross-sectional dietary, anthropometric and plasma metabolite data were examined from the Boston Puerto Rican Osteoporosis Study, n = 600 (46–79 yr).

Methods: Bone mineral density was assessed by DXA. OS was defined by clinical standards. A culturally adapted FFQ assessed usual dietary intake. Principal components analysis (PCA) of 42 FV items created 6 factors. Metabolomic profiles derived from plasma samples were assessed on a commercial platform. Differences in levels of 525 plasma metabolites between disease groups (OS vs no-OS) were compared using logistic regression; and associations with FV intakes by multivariable linear regression, adjusted for covariates. Metabolites significantly associated with OS status or with total FV intake were analyzed for enrichment in various biological pathways using Mbrole 2.0, MetaboAnalyst, and Reactome, using FDR correction of P-values. Correlation coefficients were calculated as Spearman's rho rank correlations, followed by hierarchical clustering of the resulting correlation coefficients using PCA FV factors and sex-specific sets of OS-associated metabolites.

Results: High FV intake was inversely related to OS prevalence (Odds Ratio = 0.73; 95% CI = 0.57, 0.94; P = 0.01). Several biological processes affiliated with the FV-associating metabolites, including caffeine metabolism, carnitines and fatty acids, and glycerophospholipids. Important processes identified with OS-associated metabolites were steroid hormone biosynthesis in women and branched-chain amino acid metabolism in men. Factors derived from PCA were correlated with the OS-associated metabolites, with high intake of dark leafy greens and berries/melons appearing protective in both sexes.

Conclusions: These data warrant investigation into whether increasing intakes of dark leafy greens, berries and melons causally affect bone turnover and BMD among middle-aged and older adults at risk for osteoporosis via sex-specific metabolic pathways, and how gene-diet interactions alter these sex-specific metabolomic-osteoporosis links.

ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT01231958.

Keywords: Aging; Metabolism; Metabolomics; Nutrition; Osteoporosis; Sex steroids; Puerto Rican

Links

DOI: 10.1016/j.bone.2020.115780

History

Received: 2020-06-15

Revised: 2020-11-27

Accepted: 2020-11-27

Online: 2020-12-2

Cited Works (1)

Year	Entry
2008	Kanis JA, McCloskey EV, Johansson H, Oden A, Melton LJ III, Khaltaev N. A reference standard for the description of osteoporosis. Bone. March 2008;42(3):467-475.

Cited By (1)

Year	Entry
2023	Zhang X, Adebayo AS, Wang D, Raza Y, Tomlinson M, Dooley H, Bowyer RCE, Small KS, Steves CJ, Spector TD, Duncan EL, Visconti A, Falchi M. PPI-induced changes in plasma metabolite levels influence total hip bone mineral density in a UK cohort. J Bone Miner Res. February 2023;38(2):326-334.