Dysregulation of lipid metabolism underpins cardiometabolic diseases, including type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease. While the metabolic pathways of lipids are well characterised, dysregulation of the same pathways due to diet, lifestyle and genetic influences is not well understood. We have applied our high throughput lipidomics platform to large clinical and population studies. These data have enabled us to develop lipidomic scores for metabolic BMI, metabolic age, a plasmalogen score and most recently a lipidomic risk score for cardiovascular disease.
Diet is a key factor influencing the risk and development of multiple diseases, yet the underlying metabolic pathways involved remain poorly understood. We analysed data from 13,335 participants across two large Australian cohorts examining comprehensive lipidomic profiles in relation to diet. In both cohorts we observed characteristic lipidomic profiles linked to dairy (sphingomyelins and lipids esterified with 14:0, 15:0, 17:0 or 17:1 fatty acid), red meat and poultry (alkyl- and alkenyl-phosphatidylcholine and phosphatidylethanolamine), and fish (higher 22:6, and lower 22:4 fatty acids) as well as many other foods.
We then assessed the link between metabolic signatures of diet quality with cardiometabolic health and all-cause mortality. The metabolic signatures of diet quality showed improved performance compared to the food frequency questionnaire (FFQ) derived diet quality scores in the prediction of metabolic and cardiovascular risk. Similarly, they showed improved prediction of all–cause mortality with hazard ratios (95% confidence interval) of 0.89 (0.84–0.93), 0.87 (0.83–0.92), and 0.88 (0.84–0.93) for the Australian Dietary Guideline Index (DGI), the Global Diet Quality Score (DGQS), and the MIND score respectively.
These studies provide valuable insights into the impact of diet on metabolic health and disease risk. A web-based resource tool, developed with these data now offers a comprehensive platform for guiding research aimed at developing preventive and therapeutic strategies to improve human metabolic health.