Serum metabolomics profiling by proton nuclear magnetic resonance spectrometry of the response to single oral macronutrient challenges in women with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) compared with male and female controls

Abstract

Background

The polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) is associated with insulin resistance, obesity and cardiometabolic comorbidities. We here challenged the hypothesis, using state-of-the-art proton nuclear magnetic resonance spectrometry (¹H-NMRS) metabolomics profiling, that androgen excess in women induces a certain masculinization of postprandial metabolism that is modulated by obesity.

Materials and methods

Participants were 53 Caucasian young adults, including 17 women with classic PCOS consisting of hyperandrogenism and ovulatory dysfunction, 17 non-hyperandrogenic women presenting with regular menses, and 19 healthy men, selected to be similar in terms of age and body mass index (BMI). Half of the subjects had obesity. Patients were submitted to isocaloric separate glucose, lipid and protein oral challenges in alternate days and fasting and postprandial serum samples were submitted to ¹H-NMRS metabolomics profiling for quantification of 36 low-molecular-weight polar metabolites.

Results

The largest postprandial changes were observed after glucose and protein intake, with lipid ingestion inducing smaller differences. Changes after glucose intake consisted of a marked increase in carbohydrates and byproducts of glycolysis, and an overall decrease in byproducts of proteolysis, lipolysis and ketogenesis. After the protein load, most amino acids and derivatives increased markedly, in parallel to an increase in pyruvate and a decrease in 3-hydroxybutyric acid and glycerol. Obesity increased β- and d-glucose and pyruvate levels, with this effect being observed mostly after glucose ingestion in women with PCOS. Regardless of the type of macronutrient, men presented increased lysine and decreased 3-hydroxybutyric acid. In addition, non-obese men showed increased postprandial β-glucose and decreased pyroglutamic acid, compared with non-obese control women. We observed a common pattern of postprandial changes in branched-chain and aromatic amino acids, where men showed greater amino acids increases after protein intake than control women and patients with PCOS but only within the non-obese participants. Conversely, this increase was blunted in obese men but not in obese women, who even presented a larger increase in some amino acids compared with their non-obese counterparts. Interestingly, regardless of the type of macronutrient, only obese women with PCOS showed increased leucine, lysine, phenylalanine and tryptophan levels compared with non-obese patients.

Conclusions

Serum ¹H-NMRS metabolomics profiling indicated sexual dimorphism in the responses to oral macronutrient challenges, which were apparently driven by the central role of postprandial insulin effects with obesity, and to a lesser extent PCOS, exerting modifying roles derived from insulin resistance. Hence, obesity impaired metabolic flexibility in young adults, yet sex and sex hormones also influenced the regulation of postprandial metabolism.