Context: Branched-chain and aromatic amino acids are associated with high risk of developing dyslipidemia and type II diabetes in adults.
Objective: This study aimed to examine whether serum amino acid profiles associate with triglyceride concentrations during pubertal growth and predict hypertriglyceridemia in early adulthood.
Design: This was a 7.5-year longitudinal study.
Setting: The study was conducted at the Health Science Laboratory, University of Jyväskylä.
Participants: A total of 396 nondiabetic Finnish girls aged 11.2 ± 0.8 years at the baseline participated in the study.
Main outcome measures: Body composition was assessed by dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry; serum concentrations of glucose, insulin, and triglyceride by enzymatic photometric methods; and amino acids by nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy.
Results: Serum leucine and isoleucine correlated significantly with future triglyceride, independent of baseline triglyceride level (P < .05 for all). In early adulthood (at the age of 18 years), these amino acids were significantly associated with hypertriglyceridemia, whereas fat mass and homeostasis model assessment of insulin resistance were not. Leucine was the strongest determinant discriminating subjects with hypertriglyceridemia from those with normal triglyceride level (area under the curve, 0.822; 95% confidence interval, 0.740-0.903; P = .000001).
Conclusions: Serum leucine and isoleucine were associated with future serum triglyceride levels in girls during pubertal growth and predicted hypertriglyceridemia in early adulthood. Therefore, these amino acid indices may serve as biomarkers to identify individuals at high risk for developing hypertriglyceridemia and cardiovascular disease later in life. Further studies are needed to elucidate the role these amino acids play in the lipid metabolism.