Branched-Chain and Aromatic Amino Acids Are Associated With Insulin Resistance During Pubertal Development in Girls

Abstract

Purpose: Cross-sectional studies in children show branched-chain and aromatic amino acids are associated with insulin resistance, but whether these associations persist from childhood to adulthood is not known. This study aimed to assess whether circulating amino acids associate with insulin resistance during pubertal development.

Methods: This was a 7.5-year longitudinal study from childhood to early adulthood. A total of 396 nondiabetic Finnish girls aged 11.2 ± .8 years at baseline participated in the study which was conducted at the Health Science Laboratory, University of Jyväskylä. Serum concentrations of glucose and insulin were determined by enzymatic photometric methods and amino acids by nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy. Insulin resistance was determined by the homeostatic model assessment of insulin resistance (HOMA-IR).

Results: All amino acids were positively associated with HOMA-IR both before and after menarche (p < .05 for all), except for histidine. Branched-chain amino acids and aromatic amino acids showed the strongest associations, the magnitude of correlation coefficients being similar before and after menarche (R² = .064-.171). After adjusting for body mass index z-score and height, the associations between branched-chain amino acids and aromatic amino acids and HOMA-IR remained significant both before and after menarche.

Conclusions: Branched-chain amino acids and aromatic amino acids associate with insulin resistance during pubertal development, independent of adiposity. Further studies are needed to determine whether changes in amino acid metabolism link pubertal hyperinsulinemia to accelerated physiological growth and/or heightened cardiometabolic risk later in life.

Keywords: Amino acids; Females; Insulin resistance; Puberty.