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Carbohydrates, glycemic index and diabetes mellitus

Plasma alkylresorcinols C17:0/C21:0 ratio, a biomarker of relative whole-grain rye intake, is associated to insulin sensitivity: a randomized study

European Journal of Clinical Nutrition volume 68, pages 453–458 (2014)Cite this article

Subjects

Abstract

Background/Objectives:

Few studies have used biomarkers of whole-grain intake to study its relation to glucose metabolism. We aimed to investigate the association between plasma alkylresorcinols (AR), a biomarker of whole-grain rye and wheat intake, and glucose metabolism in individuals with metabolic syndrome (MetS).

Subjects/Methods:

Participants were 30–65 years of age, with body mass index 27–40 kg/m2 and had MetS without diabetes. Individuals were recruited through six centers in the Nordic countries and randomized to a healthy Nordic diet (ND, n=96), rich in whole-grain rye and wheat, or a control diet (n=70), for 18–24 weeks. In addition, associations between total plasma AR concentration and C17:0/C21:0 homolog ratio as an indication of the relative whole-grain rye intake, and glucose metabolism measures from oral glucose tolerance tests were investigated in pooled (ND+control) regression analyses at 18/24 weeks.

Results:

ND did not improve glucose metabolism compared with control diet, but the AR C17:0/C21:0 ratio was inversely associated with fasting insulin concentrations (P=0.002) and positively associated with the insulin sensitivity indices Matsuda ISI (P=0.026) and disposition index (P=0.022) in pooled analyses at 18/24 weeks, even after adjustment for confounders. The AR C17:0/C21:0 ratio was not significantly associated with insulin secretion indices. Total plasma AR concentration was not related to fasting plasma glucose or fasting insulin at 18/24 weeks.

Conclusions:

The AR C17:0/C21:0 ratio, an indicator of relative whole-grain rye intake, is associated with increased insulin sensitivity in a population with MetS.

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Acknowledgements

We express sincere gratitude to the participants taking part in the study. We also thank Vanessa de Mello Laaksonen and Maria Lankinen for help with calculations and all staff involved in the intervention. The study was supported by NordForsk NCoE in Food Nutrition and Health: Project 070014 SYSDIET (Systems biology in controlled dietary interventions and cohort studies). This study was also funded by the Academy of Finland, Finnish Diabetes Research Foundation, Finnish Foundation for Cardiovascular Research, The Sigrid Juselius Foundation and EVO funding from Kuopio University Hospital (Finland); the Druvan Foundation, ESPEN, Skåne County Council Research and Development Foundation, Swedish Research Council for Health, EXODIAB (Excellence of Diabetes Research in Sweden), The Heart-Lung Foundation, Diabetesfonden and Foundation Cerealia (Sweden); The Danish Obesity Research Centre (DanORC, www.danorc.dk), The Danish Council for Strategic Research (DairyHealth, BioFunCarb) (Denmark), The Agricultural Productivity Fund (Iceland) and the Icelandic Research Fund for graduate students (1206880061).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Unit for Nutrition Research, Landspitali-The National University Hospital of Iceland, Reykjavík, Iceland

    O K Magnusdottir, I Gunnarsdottir & I Thorsdottir

  2. Faculty of Food Science and Nutrition and School of Health Sciences, University of Iceland, Reykjavík, Iceland

    O K Magnusdottir, I Gunnarsdottir & I Thorsdottir

  3. Department of Food Science, BioCenter, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Uppsala, Sweden

    R Landberg

  4. Division of Nutritional Epidemiology, Institute of Environmental Medicine, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden

    R Landberg

  5. Biomedical Nutrition, Pure and Applied Biochemistry, Lund University, Lund, Sweden

    L Cloetens & B Åkesson

  6. Department of Clinical Nutrition, Skåne University Hospital, Lund, Sweden

    B Åkesson

  7. Department of Endocrinology, Skåne University Hospital, Lund, Sweden

    M Landin-Olsson

  8. Department of Public Health and Caring Sciences, Clinical Nutrition and Metabolism, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden

    F Rosqvist, D Iggman & U Risérus

  9. Center for Clinical Research Dalarna, Falun, Sweden

    D Iggman

  10. Institute of Public Health and Clinical Nutrition, University of Eastern Finland, Kuopio, Finland

    U Schwab, M Kolehmainen, K Poutanen & M Uusitupa

  11. Institute of Clinical Medicine, Internal Medicine, Kuopio University Hospital, Kuopio, Finland

    U Schwab

  12. Department of Physiology and Biocenter of Oulu, Institute of Biomedicine, Oulu University, Oulu, Finland

    K-H Herzig

  13. Department of Psychiatry, Kuopio University Hospital, Kuopio, Finland

    K-H Herzig

  14. Department of Internal Medicine and Biocenter Oulu, Institute of Clinical Medicine, University of Oulu, Oulu, Finland

    M J Savolainen

  15. Clinical Research Center, Oulu University Hospital, Oulu, Finland

    M J Savolainen

  16. Department of Endocrinology and Internal Medicine, Aarhus University Hospital, Aarhus, Denmark

    L Brader & K Hermansen

  17. VTT, Technical Research Centre of Finland, Espoo and Kuopio, Kuopio, Finland

    M Kolehmainen & K Poutanen

  18. Research Unit, Kuopio University Hospital, Kuopio, Finland

    M Uusitupa

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  1. O K Magnusdottir
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  2. R Landberg
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  9. U Schwab
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Correspondence to O K Magnusdottir.

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Magnusdottir, O., Landberg, R., Gunnarsdottir, I. et al. Plasma alkylresorcinols C17:0/C21:0 ratio, a biomarker of relative whole-grain rye intake, is associated to insulin sensitivity: a randomized study. Eur J Clin Nutr 68, 453–458 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1038/ejcn.2014.12

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