Approved Research

Identification and comparison of plasma common and distinct metabolites for cardiovascular diseases and related lifestyles

Lay summary

Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is an important component of the global disease burden. Various unhealthy lifestyles and metabolic diseases have been widely recognized as being strongly associated with the risk of CVD, causing dysregulated metabolism. Currently, it remains largely unknown about the mechanisms underlying the lifestyles/metabolic diseases - CVD associations.

Metabolomics emerges as a powerful tool to identify novel biomarkers for metabolic characteristics and reveal mechanisms underlying complex diseases. However, most of the previous studies were retrospective or cross-sectional, making it difficult to clarify the causal association between metabolites and CVD. In addition, few studies have explored the metabolomic changes between lifestyles/metabolic diseases and CVD, leading to a knowledge gap about the role of metabolites in mechanisms of CVD pathogenesis and potential utility for risk prediction.

Therefore, leveraging the UK Biobank resource, we propose to explore metabolomic signatures associated with CVD and evaluate the added predictivity of these metabolites. Furthermore, we develop validated metabolomic signatures related to lifestyles/metabolic diseases and further evaluate the associations with CVD risk.

This project will provide a panel of metabolites reflective of widespread metabolic disturbances caused by lifestyles/ metabolic diseases, shedding light on the underlying mechanisms of CVD pathogenesis. Moreover, it may help identify valuable risk prediction biomarkers for early personalized intervention of CVD.