Probing gender-specific metabolism differences in humans by nuclear magnetic resonance-based metabonomics

The measurement of metabolite profiles that are interpreted to yield biomarkers using multivariate data analysis is now a well-established approach for gaining an improved understanding of the impact of genetic modifications, toxicological and therapeutic interventions, and exposure to stimuli (e.g., noxious agents, stressors, nutrients) on the network of transcripts, proteins, and metabolites present in cells, tissues, or whole organisms. This has been termed metabonomics. In this study, multivariate analysis of 1H nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectra of metabolite profiles of urine and plasma from 150 healthy humans revealed that in young people and/or individuals with low body mass indexes, females had higher rates of lipid biosynthesis than did males, whereas males had higher rates of protein turnover than did females. With increasing age, overall lipid biosynthesis decreased in females, whereas metabolism increasingly favored lipid synthesis over protein turnover in males. By relating the derived metabonomic data to known metabolic pathways and published biochemical data, it appears that females synthesize relatively more lipoproteins and unsaturated lipids than do males. Furthermore, the changes in lipid biosynthesis and urinary citrate excretion in females showed a positive correlation. Estrogen most likely plays an essential role in the regulation of, and communication between, protein and lipid biosynthesis by controlling pH in mitochondria and the cytoplasm and hence the observed altered citrate levels.