Changes of Branched-Chain Amino Acids and Ectopic Fat in Response to Weight-loss Diets: the POUNDS Lost Trial.
CONTEXT
Recent evidence has related circulating branch-chained amino acids (BCAAs) to ectopic fat distribution.


OBJECTIVE
To investigate the associations of changes in plasma BCAAs induced by weight-loss diet interventions with hepatic fat and abdominal fat, and potential modification by different diets.


DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS
The current study included 184 participants from the 2-year Preventing Overweight and Using Novel Dietary Strategies (POUNDS Lost) trial with repeated measurements on plasma BCAAs, hepatic fat, and abdominal fat over 2 years.


MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES
Repeated measurements of hepatic fat, abdominal fat distribution, including visceral adipose tissue (VAT), subcutaneous adipose tissue (SAT), and total adipose tissue (TAT).


RESULTS
Over 2 years, a decrease in total plasma BCAAs was significantly associated with improvement in hepatic density (a marker for hepatic fat; P = 0.02) and reductions in abdominal fat, including VAT, SAT, and TAT (all P < 0.05) in the main analyses. Additionally, we observed that decreases in BCAAs were associated with decreased insulin, homeostasis model assessment of insulin resistance, and triglycerides, independent of weight loss (all P < 0.05). Moreover, we found that dietary protein intake significantly modified the relation between changes in total plasma BCAAs and hepatic density at 6 months (Pinteraction = 0.01). Participants with a larger decrease in total BCAAs showed a greater increase in hepatic density when consuming a high-protein diet, compared with those with a smaller decrease or increase in total BCAAs.


CONCLUSIONS
Our findings indicate that weight-loss diet-induced decrease in plasma BCAAs is associated with reductions of hepatic and abdominal fat. In addition, dietary protein intake may modify these associations.
['Li|Xiang|X|', 'Sun|Dianjianyi|D|', 'Zhou|Tao|T|', 'Ma|Hao|H|', 'Heianza|Yoriko|Y|', 'Liang|Zhaoxia|Z|', 'Bray|George A|GA|', 'Sacks|Frank M|FM|', 'Qi|Lu|L|']
D050153:Abdominal Fat D050154:Adiposity D000597:Amino Acids, Branched-Chain D000073600:Diet, High-Protein D004038:Diet, Reducing D005260:Female D006801:Humans D008099:Liver D008297:Male D008875:Middle Aged D009765:Obesity D050177:Overweight D016896:Treatment Outcome D015431:Weight Loss
branched-chain amino acid ectopic fat weight-loss diet epidemiology nutrition