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Serum Metabolite Profiles in Adults With Abdominal Obesity in Response to Consuming 1 Avocado Daily for 6 Months: An Exploratory Analysis.

  • 2026-03-13
  • Journal of the American Heart Association 15(6)
    • Nirupa R Matthan
    • Ecaterina Duscova
    • Gregory Matuszek
    • Wen Zhang
    • Penny M Kris-Etherton
    • Kristina S Petersen
    • Sujatha Rajaram
    • Zhaoping Li
    • David M Reboussin
    • Joan Sabate
    • Alice H Lichtenstein

Study Design

Type
Randomized Controlled Trial (RCT)
Sample size
n = 120
Population
120 adults with abdominal obesity (70% women; 49±13 years; BMI 33.1±5.7 kg/m2) from the HAT trial, randomized to avocado group
Methods
Secondary analysis using untargeted metabolomics on fasting serum at baseline and 6 months; evaluated pre-post changes in metabolites, cardiometabolic risk factors, visceral adipose tissue volume, and hepatic fat fraction; used Wilcoxon tests, multilevel PLS-DA, and multiple regression
Duration
6 months
Funding
Unclear
  • Large Human Trial

Background

Avocado consumption has been associated with improvements in diet quality and cardiometabolic risk factors, but effects on serum metabolite profiles remain underexplored.

Methods

Secondary analysis was conducted using untargeted metabolomics to assess fasting serum metabolite profiles at baseline (preintervention) and 6 months (postintervention) in a subset of participants with abdominal obesity from the HAT (Habitual Diet and Avocado Trial), who were randomized to the avocado group (n = 120; 70% women; 49 ± 13 years of age; body mass index 33.1 ± 5.7 kg/m2). Pre-post intervention changes in metabolites, cardiometabolic risk factors (blood pressure, lipid profile, glucose, insulin, high-sensitivity C-reactive protein), visceral adipose tissue volume, and hepatic fat fraction were evaluated using Wilcoxon tests. Multilevel partial-least squares discriminant analysis, accounting for within-subject correlation was used to examine metabolite changes associated with avocado intake, and multiple regression assessed metabolite-cardiometabolic risk factor associations, adjusting for covariates (age, sex, body mass index, smoking status, physical activity, energy intake) and multiple testing (false discovery rate <0.1).

Results

Plasma low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (-6%), systolic (-3%), and diastolic (-2%) blood pressure decreased, whereas visceral adipose tissue volume increased (3%) postintervention (all P < 0.05). We identified 30 primary (sugar acids/alcohols, amino/carboxylic/hydroxy acids, indoles, xenobiotics) and 45 lipid-related metabolites (fatty acids, cholesteryl esters, glycerolipids, glycerophospholipids, sphingolipids) as key drivers of separation between pre-post intervention time points (variable importance in projection >1). Significant but weak to modest associations (multiple-R = 0.21-0.52) were observed between 96 predominantly lipid-related metabolites and visceral adipose tissue volume, plasma triglycerides, and total cholesterol concentrations.

Conclusions

Avocado intake was associated with subtle shifts in serum metabolites related to lipid, carbohydrate, and amino acid metabolism, with weak effects on visceral adipose tissue volume, plasma triglycerides, and total cholesterol concentrations.

Registration

URL: https://www.clinicaltrials.gov; Unique identifier: NCT03528031.

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