Abstract Background IBD is associated with complications of the metabolic syndrome including type 2 diabetes, ischemic vascular disease and metabolic associated steatotic liver disease (MASLD) 1. This may arise from shared environmental risk factors, such as diet, disease-related inflammation and the adverse effects of several medications used to treat IBD such as prednisone and Janus Kinase (JAK) inhibitors 2. The study of metabolomics allows the generation of a metabolic barcode of the current metabolic status of an individual, contributed to by the host interaction with their microbiome, environment and indicative of active disease states 3. Our study aimed to explore the relationships between plasma amino acid metabolomic profile and risk factors for metabolic diseases in individuals with IBD. Methods Fasting blood samples were collected, anthropometric measurements: weight, height, waist circumference (WC) and hip circumference recorded and body mass index (BMI) and waist-to-hip ratio (WHR) calculated. Fasting serum glucose, HbA1c, insulin level and lipid profile was measured. Dietary intake was recorded via a smartphone app (Easy Diet Diary) for 8 days and overall healthy eating score (HEIFA-2013 index) calculated 4. Twenty-two plasma amino acid levels were analyzed using Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry (GC-MS). Correlations between fasting plasma amino acids and metabolic markers were evaluated via simple linear regression and p-values adjusted for false discovery rate (adj-p). Results Fifty-seven individuals with IBD in remission, 31 with Crohn’s Disease (CD) and 26 with Ulcerative Colitis (UC) participated. Significant correlations were found between measured anthropometric parameters and insulin and seven fasting plasma amino acids including glutamic acid and insulin (r 0.31, p 0.01) and leucine and WC r 0.29, p 0.01) (Table 1). There were no significant correlations between fasting glucose, fasting lipid profile, HbA1c, recorded dietary intake, including HEIFA-2013 score, nor individual dietary components and plasma amino acid levels. Conclusion Diet did not impact the plasma amino acid profile. Measurement of plasma amino acid profile may give insight into the overall metabolic health status of a patient with IBD. This knowledge may serve as a tool for personalised patient education on their metabolic risk status, prompt consideration of the addition of medical or surgical strategies for metabolic management and guide the safest selection of IBD treatment to minimise the impact on metabolic health profile and its associated complications. References: 1. Gut. 2024;doi:doi:10.1136/gutjnl-2024-331914 2. Ytterberg S, Bhatt D, Mikuls T, al e. Cardiovascular and cancer risk with tofacitanib in rheumatoid arthritis NEJM. 2022;386:316-326. 3. Gallagher K, Catesson A, Griffin J, al e. Metabolomic Analysis in Inflammatory Bowel Disease: A Systematic Review. Journal of Crohn’s and Colitis. 2021;15(5):813-326. 4. Roy R, Hebden L, Rangan A, al e. The development, application and validation of a Healthy eating index for Australian Adults (HEIFA-2013). Nutrition. 2016;32:432-440. Conflict of interest: Dr. Wark, Gabrielle: No conflict of interest Tillet, Bree: No conflict of interest O Kaakoush, Nadeem: No conflict of interest Samocha-Bonet, Dorit: No conflict of interest Ghaly, Simon: No conflict of interest Danta, Mark: No conflict of interest
Wark et al. (Thu,) studied this question.