Associations between serum amino acids and incident type 2 diabetes in Chinese rural adults.

Background And Aims: Some amino acids (AAs) may be associated with type 2 diabetes (T2DM). This study aimed to determine the associations of individual AAs with the development of T2DM in rural Chinese adults.

Methods And Results: A cohort study of 1199 individuals aged 18 years or older was conducted from 2006 to 2008 in a rural community of Deqing, China, a repeated survey was done in 2015 and data linkage with the electronic health records system was performed each year for identifying new T2DM cases. A high-performance liquid chromatography approach was used to measure the baseline serum concentrations of 15 AAs. Cox proportional hazards models were used to examine the associations between AAs and the risk of incident T2DM. A total of 98 new T2DM cases were identified during the follow-up of 12 years on average. Among 15 AAs, proline was associated with an increased risk of incident T2DM after adjusted for age, sex, body mass index, fasting plasma glucose, family history of T2DM, smoking status, alcohol use, and history of hypertension, the adjusted hazard ratio for 1-standard deviation increment was 1.20 (95% confidence interval: 1.00, 1.43). The association tended to be more marked in subjects younger than 60 years and overweight/obese subjects. Among participants without hypertension, proline and phenylalanine were associated with an increased risk of incident T2DM, while aspartic acid was associated with a decreased risk.

Conclusion: Serum proline was associated with the risk of incident T2DM in rural Chinese adults and might be a potential predictor.