title: Obesity-related metabolite profiles of black women spanning the epidemiologic transition.
abstract: In developed countries, specific metabolites have been associated with obesity and metabolic diseases, e.g. type 2 diabetes. It is unknown whether a similar profile persists across populations of African-origin, at increased risk for obesity and related diseases. In a cross-sectional study of normal-weight and obese black women (33.3 ± 6.3 years) from the US (N= 69, 65 % obese), South Africa (SA,N= 97, 49 % obese) and Ghana (N= 82, 33 % obese) serum metabolite profiles were characterized via gas chromatography-time of flight/mass spectrometry. In US and SA women, BMI correlated with branched-chain and aromatic amino acids, as well as dopamine and aminoadipic acid. The relationship between BMI and lipid metabolites differed by site; BMI correlated positively with palmitoleic acid (16:1) in the US; negatively with stearic acid (18:0) in SA, and positively with arachidonic acid (20:4) in Ghana. BMI was also positively associated with sugar-related metabolites in the US; i.e. uric acid, and mannitol, and with glucosamine, glucoronic acid and mannitol in SA. While we identified a common amino acid metabolite profile associated with obesity in black women from the US and SA, we also found site-specific obesity-related metabolites suggesting that the local environment is a key moderator of obesity.
authors.affiliation: Public Health Sciences, Stritch School of Medicine, Loyola University Chicago, Maywood, IL, USA.
authors.forename: Lara R
authors.initials: LR
authors.lastname: Dugas
authors.affiliation: Department of Public Health and Clinical Medicine, Umeå University, Umeå, Sweden.
authors.forename: Elin
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Chorell
authors.affiliation: Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Kumasi, Ghana.
authors.forename: Jacob
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Plange-Rhule
authors.affiliation: Research Unit for Exercise Science and Sports Medicine, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa.
authors.forename: Estelle V
authors.initials: EV
authors.lastname: Lambert
authors.affiliation: Public Health Sciences, Stritch School of Medicine, Loyola University Chicago, Maywood, IL, USA.
authors.forename: Guichan
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Cao
authors.affiliation: Public Health Sciences, Stritch School of Medicine, Loyola University Chicago, Maywood, IL, USA.
authors.forename: Richard S
authors.initials: RS
authors.lastname: Cooper
authors.affiliation: Division of Endocrinology, Metabolism and Molecular Medicine, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL, USA; Jesse Brown Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Chicago, IL, USA.
authors.forename: Brian T
authors.initials: BT
authors.lastname: Layden
authors.affiliation: Division of Endocrinology, Metabolism and Molecular Medicine, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL, USA.
authors.forename: Denise
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Scholten
authors.affiliation: Department of Public Health and Clinical Medicine, Umeå University, Umeå, Sweden.
authors.forename: Tommy
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Olsson
authors.affiliation: Public Health Sciences, Stritch School of Medicine, Loyola University Chicago, Maywood, IL, USA.
authors.forename: Amy
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Luke
authors.affiliation: Non-Communicable Disease Research Unit, South African Medical Research Council, Cape Town, South Africa.
authors.forename: Julia H
authors.initials: JH
authors.lastname: Goedecke
keywords: African-origin; Amino acid profile; Obesity