Association of ultra-processed foods intake with untargeted metabolomics profiles in adolescents and young adults in the DONALD cohort study.

BACKGROUND: High consumption of ultra-processed foods (UPF) continues to draw significant public health interest due to the associated negative health outcomes. Metabolomics can contribute to the understanding of the biological mechanisms through which UPFs may influence health.

OBJECTIVES: To investigate urine and plasma metabolomic biomarkers of UPF intake in adolescents and young adults.

METHODS: We used data from the Dortmund Nutritional and Anthropometric Longitudinally Designed (DONALD) study to investigate cross-sectional associations of UPF intake with concentrations of urine metabolites in adolescents using 3-d weighed dietary records (3d-WDR) and 24-h urine samples (n = 339), and associations of repeatedly assessed UPF intake with concentrations of circulating plasma metabolites in young adults with 3 to 6 3d-WDRs within 5 y preceding blood measurement (n = 195). Urine and plasma samples were analyzed using mass spectrometry-based metabolomics. Biosample-specific metabolite patterns were determined using robust sparse principal components analysis. Multivariable linear regression models were applied to assess the associations of UPF consumption (as a percentage of total food intake in g/d) with concentrations of individual metabolites and metabolite pattern scores.

RESULTS: The median proportion of UPF intake was 22.0% (interquartile range, IQR: 12.3, 32.9) in adolescents and 23.2% (IQR: 16.0, 31.6) in young adults. We identified 42 and 6 UPF intake-associated metabolites in urine and plasma samples, respectively. One urinary metabolite pattern, "xenobiotics and amino acids" (β = 0.042, 95% confidence interval, [CI]: 0.014, 0.070) and one plasma metabolite pattern, "lipids, xenobiotics, and amino acids" (β = 0.074, 95% CI: 0.031, 0.117) showed positive association with UPF intake. Both patterns shared 29 metabolites, mostly of xenobiotic metabolism.

CONCLUSIONS: We identified urine and plasma metabolites associated with UPF intake in adolescents and young adults, which may represent some of the biological mechanisms through which UPFs may influence metabolism and health.

Copyright © 2024 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

PMID: 39332770