Altered amino acid levels in young hypopituitarism: impact of NAFLD and insulin resistance

Abstract Elevated concentrations of amino acids (AAs) are commonly observed in patients with nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). Individuals with hypopituitarism (HP) are at a heightened risk of developing NAFLD due to factors such as visceral obesity, increased insulin resistance (IR), and di...

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Main Authors: Yuwen Zhang, Jiting Qiu, Shouyue Sun, Xuqian Fang
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Springer 2024-11-01
Series:Amino Acids
Subjects:
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1007/s00726-024-03429-y
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author Yuwen Zhang
Jiting Qiu
Shouyue Sun
Xuqian Fang
author_facet Yuwen Zhang
Jiting Qiu
Shouyue Sun
Xuqian Fang
author_sort Yuwen Zhang
collection DOAJ
description Abstract Elevated concentrations of amino acids (AAs) are commonly observed in patients with nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). Individuals with hypopituitarism (HP) are at a heightened risk of developing NAFLD due to factors such as visceral obesity, increased insulin resistance (IR), and disturbances in lipid metabolism. However, the changes in AAs concentrations associated with HP remain poorly understood. Therefore, our study aimed to investigate whether individuals with HP, who were not receiving growth hormone replacement therapy (GHRT), exhibited altered AAs compared to controls (CTs), and whether these AAs were associated with IR, the presence of NAFLD, and the Metabolic Syndrome (MetS) score. The AAs profiles of 133 young males with HP (age: 24.5 ± 5.9; 57 with NAFLD and 76 without NAFLD) and 90 age and BMI-matched CTs were analyzed using untargeted metabolomics. The results revealed that most AAs were found to be elevated in subjects with HPs compared to CTs. Glutamate, glutamine, norleucine, and branched-chain amino acids (BCAAs) (leucine and valine) were correlated with the homeostasis model assessment of insulin resistance (HOMA-IR), with glutamate and norleucine showing independent linkage. Glutamate and proline levels were specifically associated with MetS score, while alanine and proline linked to NAFLD. Given that elevated glutamate and BCAAs levels have higher prevalence of NAFLD, we hypothesized that the changes in AAs observed in HPs may be attributed to the impact of NAFLD and IR.
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spelling doaj-art-20bf1d845e7e4f6c92a85e8ce840aa4b2025-08-20T01:57:16ZengSpringerAmino Acids1438-21992024-11-015611910.1007/s00726-024-03429-yAltered amino acid levels in young hypopituitarism: impact of NAFLD and insulin resistanceYuwen Zhang0Jiting Qiu1Shouyue Sun2Xuqian Fang3Department of Endocrine and Metabolic Diseases, Shanghai Institute of Endocrine and Metabolic Diseases, Ruijin Hospital, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of MedicineDepartment of Neurosurgery, Ruijin Hospital, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of MedicineDepartment of Endocrine and Metabolic Diseases, Shanghai Institute of Endocrine and Metabolic Diseases, Ruijin Hospital, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of MedicineDepartment of Pathology, Ruijin Hospital, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of MedicineAbstract Elevated concentrations of amino acids (AAs) are commonly observed in patients with nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). Individuals with hypopituitarism (HP) are at a heightened risk of developing NAFLD due to factors such as visceral obesity, increased insulin resistance (IR), and disturbances in lipid metabolism. However, the changes in AAs concentrations associated with HP remain poorly understood. Therefore, our study aimed to investigate whether individuals with HP, who were not receiving growth hormone replacement therapy (GHRT), exhibited altered AAs compared to controls (CTs), and whether these AAs were associated with IR, the presence of NAFLD, and the Metabolic Syndrome (MetS) score. The AAs profiles of 133 young males with HP (age: 24.5 ± 5.9; 57 with NAFLD and 76 without NAFLD) and 90 age and BMI-matched CTs were analyzed using untargeted metabolomics. The results revealed that most AAs were found to be elevated in subjects with HPs compared to CTs. Glutamate, glutamine, norleucine, and branched-chain amino acids (BCAAs) (leucine and valine) were correlated with the homeostasis model assessment of insulin resistance (HOMA-IR), with glutamate and norleucine showing independent linkage. Glutamate and proline levels were specifically associated with MetS score, while alanine and proline linked to NAFLD. Given that elevated glutamate and BCAAs levels have higher prevalence of NAFLD, we hypothesized that the changes in AAs observed in HPs may be attributed to the impact of NAFLD and IR.https://doi.org/10.1007/s00726-024-03429-yAmino acidHypopituitarismNAFLDInsulin resistanceGlutamic acidBCAAs
spellingShingle Yuwen Zhang
Jiting Qiu
Shouyue Sun
Xuqian Fang
Altered amino acid levels in young hypopituitarism: impact of NAFLD and insulin resistance
Amino Acids
Amino acid
Hypopituitarism
NAFLD
Insulin resistance
Glutamic acid
BCAAs
title Altered amino acid levels in young hypopituitarism: impact of NAFLD and insulin resistance
title_full Altered amino acid levels in young hypopituitarism: impact of NAFLD and insulin resistance
title_fullStr Altered amino acid levels in young hypopituitarism: impact of NAFLD and insulin resistance
title_full_unstemmed Altered amino acid levels in young hypopituitarism: impact of NAFLD and insulin resistance
title_short Altered amino acid levels in young hypopituitarism: impact of NAFLD and insulin resistance
title_sort altered amino acid levels in young hypopituitarism impact of nafld and insulin resistance
topic Amino acid
Hypopituitarism
NAFLD
Insulin resistance
Glutamic acid
BCAAs
url https://doi.org/10.1007/s00726-024-03429-y
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