Effects of short-term methionine and cysteine restriction and enrichment with polyunsaturated fatty acids on oral glucose tolerance, plasma amino acids, fatty acids, lactate and pyruvate: results from a pilot study

• Main Authors: Thomas Olsen, Bente Øvrebø, Cheryl Turner, Nasser E. Bastani, Helga Refsum, Kathrine J. Vinknes
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: BMC 2021-02-01
• Series: BMC Research Notes
• Subjects: Methionine restriction; Cysteine restriction; Oral glucose tolerance; SCD; Fatty acids; Pyruvate
• Online Access: https://doi.org/10.1186/s13104-021-05463-5

Abstract Objective In this 7-day pilot study we randomized healthy, normal-weight men and women to either a dietary intervention with methionine and cysteine restriction enriched in PUFA (Met/Cyslow + PUFA, n = 7) or with high contents of methionine, cysteine and SFA (Met/Cyshigh + SFA, n = 7). The objective was to describe the short-term responses in oral glucose tolerance, amino acid profile, total fatty acid profile, pyruvate and lactate following a Met/Cyslow + PUFA diet vs. Met/Cyshigh + SFA. Results The diet groups consisted of five women and two men, aged 20–38 years. After the 7-d intervention median pre- and post-oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT) glucose concentrations were 5 mmol/L and 4 mmol/L respectively in the Met/Cyslow + PUFA group. In the Met/Cyshigh + SFA group, median pre- and post-OGTT glucose concentrations were 4.8 mmol/L and 4.65 mmol/L after the 7-d intervention. The responses in the amino acid profiles were similar in both groups during the intervention with the exception of serine. Fatty acids decreased from baseline to day 7 in both groups. Plasma lactate and pyruvate were similar for both groups with an increase to day 3 before approaching baseline values at day 7. Trial registration ClinicalTrials.gov: NCT02647970, registration date: January 6th 2016.