title: Serum N(1)-Methylnicotinamide Is Associated With Obesity and Diabetes in Chinese.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Nicotinamide N-methyltransferase (NNMT) is a novel histone methylation modulator that regulates energy metabolism, and NNMT knockdown prevents diet-induced obesity in mice. However, whether NNMT plays a role in human obesity and type 2 diabetes (T2DM) remains to be elucidated.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  NNMT catalyzes methylation of nicotinamide to generate N(1)-methylnicotinamide (me-NAM). We aimed to investigate the associations of serum me-NAM with obesity and T2DM in Chinese.
  
  
  METHODS
  The study subjects (n = 1160) were recruited from Dali, a city of Yunnan Province, in southwest China. Anthropometric phenotypes, fasting glucose, and serum lipids were measured. Serum me-NAM was measured by liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Serum me-NAM was positively correlated with body mass index and waist circumference and negatively with high-density lipoprotein (P ≤ .03). The correlations remained highly significant in the multivariate adjusted correlation analyses. In men (n = 691), positive correlations between me-NAM and fasting glucose, low-density lipoprotein, liver function, and serum creatinine levels were also observed in both simple and multivariate adjusted correlation analyses. In multiple logistic regression analyses, elevated serum me-NAM was associated with higher risks for overweight/obesity (odds ratios, 2.36 and 5.78; 95% confidence intervals, 1.10-5.08 and 1.78-18.76 for men and women, respectively; P ≤ .03) and diabetes (odds ratios, 1.56 and 1.86; 95% confidence intervals, 1.10-2.22 and 1.05-3.31 for men and women, respectively; P ≤ .03).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This first large-scale population study shows that me-NAM, as an indicator of NNMT activity, is strongly associated with obesity and diabetes, supporting NNMT as a potential target for treating obesity and diabetes in humans.
authors.affiliation: Department of Cardiology (M.L., W.J., Z.W., Z.F.), Department of Clinical Pharmacology (J.C., G.D., W.J.), and Department of Endocrinology (B.Z.), Jiangsu Province Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine, The Affiliated Hospital of Nanjing University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Nanjing 210029, Jiangsu, China; Department of Medicine, Physiology and Biophysics, Center for Diabetes Research and Treatment, Center for Epigenetics and Metabolism (M.L., Q.Y.), University of California Irvine, Irvine, California 92697; and Department of Internal Medicine (L.L., Q.Z., X.Y.), Dali University School of Clinical Medicine, Dali 671003, Yunnan, China.
authors.forename: Ming
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: Department of Cardiology (M.L., W.J., Z.W., Z.F.), Department of Clinical Pharmacology (J.C., G.D., W.J.), and Department of Endocrinology (B.Z.), Jiangsu Province Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine, The Affiliated Hospital of Nanjing University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Nanjing 210029, Jiangsu, China; Department of Medicine, Physiology and Biophysics, Center for Diabetes Research and Treatment, Center for Epigenetics and Metabolism (M.L., Q.Y.), University of California Irvine, Irvine, California 92697; and Department of Internal Medicine (L.L., Q.Z., X.Y.), Dali University School of Clinical Medicine, Dali 671003, Yunnan, China.
authors.forename: Lihua
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Department of Cardiology (M.L., W.J., Z.W., Z.F.), Department of Clinical Pharmacology (J.C., G.D., W.J.), and Department of Endocrinology (B.Z.), Jiangsu Province Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine, The Affiliated Hospital of Nanjing University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Nanjing 210029, Jiangsu, China; Department of Medicine, Physiology and Biophysics, Center for Diabetes Research and Treatment, Center for Epigenetics and Metabolism (M.L., Q.Y.), University of California Irvine, Irvine, California 92697; and Department of Internal Medicine (L.L., Q.Z., X.Y.), Dali University School of Clinical Medicine, Dali 671003, Yunnan, China.
authors.forename: Jihong
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Chu
authors.affiliation: Department of Cardiology (M.L., W.J., Z.W., Z.F.), Department of Clinical Pharmacology (J.C., G.D., W.J.), and Department of Endocrinology (B.Z.), Jiangsu Province Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine, The Affiliated Hospital of Nanjing University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Nanjing 210029, Jiangsu, China; Department of Medicine, Physiology and Biophysics, Center for Diabetes Research and Treatment, Center for Epigenetics and Metabolism (M.L., Q.Y.), University of California Irvine, Irvine, California 92697; and Department of Internal Medicine (L.L., Q.Z., X.Y.), Dali University School of Clinical Medicine, Dali 671003, Yunnan, China.
authors.forename: Boyu
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Zhu
authors.affiliation: Department of Cardiology (M.L., W.J., Z.W., Z.F.), Department of Clinical Pharmacology (J.C., G.D., W.J.), and Department of Endocrinology (B.Z.), Jiangsu Province Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine, The Affiliated Hospital of Nanjing University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Nanjing 210029, Jiangsu, China; Department of Medicine, Physiology and Biophysics, Center for Diabetes Research and Treatment, Center for Epigenetics and Metabolism (M.L., Q.Y.), University of California Irvine, Irvine, California 92697; and Department of Internal Medicine (L.L., Q.Z., X.Y.), Dali University School of Clinical Medicine, Dali 671003, Yunnan, China.
authors.forename: Qingtao
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Department of Cardiology (M.L., W.J., Z.W., Z.F.), Department of Clinical Pharmacology (J.C., G.D., W.J.), and Department of Endocrinology (B.Z.), Jiangsu Province Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine, The Affiliated Hospital of Nanjing University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Nanjing 210029, Jiangsu, China; Department of Medicine, Physiology and Biophysics, Center for Diabetes Research and Treatment, Center for Epigenetics and Metabolism (M.L., Q.Y.), University of California Irvine, Irvine, California 92697; and Department of Internal Medicine (L.L., Q.Z., X.Y.), Dali University School of Clinical Medicine, Dali 671003, Yunnan, China.
authors.forename: Xueyan
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Yin
authors.affiliation: Department of Cardiology (M.L., W.J., Z.W., Z.F.), Department of Clinical Pharmacology (J.C., G.D., W.J.), and Department of Endocrinology (B.Z.), Jiangsu Province Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine, The Affiliated Hospital of Nanjing University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Nanjing 210029, Jiangsu, China; Department of Medicine, Physiology and Biophysics, Center for Diabetes Research and Treatment, Center for Epigenetics and Metabolism (M.L., Q.Y.), University of California Irvine, Irvine, California 92697; and Department of Internal Medicine (L.L., Q.Z., X.Y.), Dali University School of Clinical Medicine, Dali 671003, Yunnan, China.
authors.forename: Weimin
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Jiang
authors.affiliation: Department of Cardiology (M.L., W.J., Z.W., Z.F.), Department of Clinical Pharmacology (J.C., G.D., W.J.), and Department of Endocrinology (B.Z.), Jiangsu Province Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine, The Affiliated Hospital of Nanjing University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Nanjing 210029, Jiangsu, China; Department of Medicine, Physiology and Biophysics, Center for Diabetes Research and Treatment, Center for Epigenetics and Metabolism (M.L., Q.Y.), University of California Irvine, Irvine, California 92697; and Department of Internal Medicine (L.L., Q.Z., X.Y.), Dali University School of Clinical Medicine, Dali 671003, Yunnan, China.
authors.forename: Guoliang
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Dai
authors.affiliation: Department of Cardiology (M.L., W.J., Z.W., Z.F.), Department of Clinical Pharmacology (J.C., G.D., W.J.), and Department of Endocrinology (B.Z.), Jiangsu Province Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine, The Affiliated Hospital of Nanjing University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Nanjing 210029, Jiangsu, China; Department of Medicine, Physiology and Biophysics, Center for Diabetes Research and Treatment, Center for Epigenetics and Metabolism (M.L., Q.Y.), University of California Irvine, Irvine, California 92697; and Department of Internal Medicine (L.L., Q.Z., X.Y.), Dali University School of Clinical Medicine, Dali 671003, Yunnan, China.
authors.forename: Wenzheng
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Ju
authors.affiliation: Department of Cardiology (M.L., W.J., Z.W., Z.F.), Department of Clinical Pharmacology (J.C., G.D., W.J.), and Department of Endocrinology (B.Z.), Jiangsu Province Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine, The Affiliated Hospital of Nanjing University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Nanjing 210029, Jiangsu, China; Department of Medicine, Physiology and Biophysics, Center for Diabetes Research and Treatment, Center for Epigenetics and Metabolism (M.L., Q.Y.), University of California Irvine, Irvine, California 92697; and Department of Internal Medicine (L.L., Q.Z., X.Y.), Dali University School of Clinical Medicine, Dali 671003, Yunnan, China.
authors.forename: Zhenxing
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Department of Cardiology (M.L., W.J., Z.W., Z.F.), Department of Clinical Pharmacology (J.C., G.D., W.J.), and Department of Endocrinology (B.Z.), Jiangsu Province Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine, The Affiliated Hospital of Nanjing University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Nanjing 210029, Jiangsu, China; Department of Medicine, Physiology and Biophysics, Center for Diabetes Research and Treatment, Center for Epigenetics and Metabolism (M.L., Q.Y.), University of California Irvine, Irvine, California 92697; and Department of Internal Medicine (L.L., Q.Z., X.Y.), Dali University School of Clinical Medicine, Dali 671003, Yunnan, China.
authors.forename: Qin
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.affiliation: Department of Cardiology (M.L., W.J., Z.W., Z.F.), Department of Clinical Pharmacology (J.C., G.D., W.J.), and Department of Endocrinology (B.Z.), Jiangsu Province Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine, The Affiliated Hospital of Nanjing University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Nanjing 210029, Jiangsu, China; Department of Medicine, Physiology and Biophysics, Center for Diabetes Research and Treatment, Center for Epigenetics and Metabolism (M.L., Q.Y.), University of California Irvine, Irvine, California 92697; and Department of Internal Medicine (L.L., Q.Z., X.Y.), Dali University School of Clinical Medicine, Dali 671003, Yunnan, China.
authors.forename: Zhuyuan
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Fang
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D044466:Asian People / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D015992:Body Mass Index; D002681:China / Q000453:epidemiology; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D003924:Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2 / Q000097:blood* / Q000453:epidemiology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009536:Niacinamide / Q000031:analogs & derivatives* / Q000097:blood; D009765:Obesity / Q000097:blood* / Q000453:epidemiology; D050177:Overweight / Q000097:blood / Q000453:epidemiology
chemical_list: D009536:Niacinamide; C024058:N(1)-methylnicotinamide