Associations between ionomic profile and metabolic abnormalities in human population.
BACKGROUND
Few studies assessed effects of individual and multiple ions simultaneously on metabolic outcomes, due to methodological limitation.


RESULTS
By combining advanced ionomics and mutual information, a quantifying measurement for mutual dependence between two random variables, we investigated associations of ion modules/networks with overweight/obesity, metabolic syndrome (MetS) and type 2 diabetes (T2DM) in 976 middle-aged Chinese men and women. Fasting plasma ions were measured by inductively coupled plasma mass spectroscopy. Significant ion modules were selected by mutual information to construct disease related ion networks. Plasma copper and phosphorus always ranked the first two among three specific ion networks associated with overweight/obesity, MetS and T2DM. Comparing the ranking of ion individually and in networks, three patterns were observed (1) "Individual ion," such as potassium and chrome, which tends to work alone; (2) "Module ion," such as iron in T2DM, which tends to act in modules/network; and (3) "Module-individual ion," such as copper in overweight/obesity, which seems to work equivalently in either way.


CONCLUSIONS
In conclusion, by using the novel approach of the ionomics strategy and the information theory, we observed potential associations of ions individually or as modules/networks with metabolic disorders. Certainly, these findings need to be confirmed in future biological studies.
Key Laboratory of Nutrition and Metabolism, Institute for Nutritional Sciences, Shanghai Institutes for Biological Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences and Graduate School of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai, China.
Liang
L
Sun
Yu
Y
Yu
Tao
T
Huang
Peng
P
An
Danxia
D
Yu
Zhijie
Z
Yu
Huaixing
H
Li
Hongguang
H
Sheng
Lu
L
Cai
Jun
J
Xue
Miao
M
Jing
Yixue
Y
Li
Xu
X
Lin
Fudi
F
Wang
D000328:Adult; D003300:Copper / Q000097:blood; D003924:Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2 / Q000378:metabolism*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D013058:Mass Spectrometry; D024821:Metabolic Syndrome / Q000378:metabolism*; D008875:Middle Aged; D050177:Overweight / Q000378:metabolism*; D010758:Phosphorus / Q000097:blood
D010758:Phosphorus; D003300:Copper