Plasma alkylresorcinols c17:0/c21:0 ratio, a biomarker of relative whole-grain rye intake, is associated to insulin sensitivity: a randomized study

ABSTRACT BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVES: Few studies have used biomarkers of whole-grain intake to study its relation to glucose metabolism. We aimed to investigate the association between plasma

alkylresorcinols (AR), a biomarker of whole-grain rye and wheat intake, and glucose metabolism in individuals with metabolic syndrome (MetS). SUBJECTS/METHODS: Participants were 30–65 years

of age, with body mass index 27–40 kg/m2 and had MetS without diabetes. Individuals were recruited through six centers in the Nordic countries and randomized to a healthy Nordic diet (ND,

_n_=96), rich in whole-grain rye and wheat, or a control diet (_n_=70), for 18–24 weeks. In addition, associations between total plasma AR concentration and C17:0/C21:0 homolog ratio as an

indication of the relative whole-grain rye intake, and glucose metabolism measures from oral glucose tolerance tests were investigated in pooled (ND+control) regression analyses at 18/24

weeks. RESULTS: ND did not improve glucose metabolism compared with control diet, but the AR C17:0/C21:0 ratio was inversely associated with fasting insulin concentrations (_P_=0.002) and

positively associated with the insulin sensitivity indices Matsuda ISI (_P_=0.026) and disposition index (_P_=0.022) in pooled analyses at 18/24 weeks, even after adjustment for confounders.

The AR C17:0/C21:0 ratio was not significantly associated with insulin secretion indices. Total plasma AR concentration was not related to fasting plasma glucose or fasting insulin at 18/24

weeks. CONCLUSIONS: The AR C17:0/C21:0 ratio, an indicator of relative whole-grain rye intake, is associated with increased insulin sensitivity in a population with MetS. Access through

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CONTENT BEING VIEWED BY OTHERS METABOLIC CHANGES IN RESPONSE TO VARYING WHOLE-GRAIN WHEAT AND RYE INTAKE Article Open access 30 January 2024 LONG-TERM WHOLE-GRAIN RYE AND WHEAT CONSUMPTION

AND THEIR ASSOCIATIONS WITH SELECTED BIOMARKERS OF INFLAMMATION, ENDOTHELIAL FUNCTION, AND CARDIOVASCULAR DISEASE Article 11 August 2020 POSTPRANDIAL GLYCEMIC AND LIPIDEMIC EFFECTS OF BLACK

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Google Scholar  Download references ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS We express sincere gratitude to the participants taking part in the study. We also thank Vanessa de Mello Laaksonen and Maria Lankinen

for help with calculations and all staff involved in the intervention. The study was supported by NordForsk NCoE in Food Nutrition and Health: Project 070014 SYSDIET (Systems biology in

controlled dietary interventions and cohort studies). This study was also funded by the Academy of Finland, Finnish Diabetes Research Foundation, Finnish Foundation for Cardiovascular

Research, The Sigrid Juselius Foundation and EVO funding from Kuopio University Hospital (Finland); the Druvan Foundation, ESPEN, Skåne County Council Research and Development Foundation,

Swedish Research Council for Health, EXODIAB (Excellence of Diabetes Research in Sweden), The Heart-Lung Foundation, Diabetesfonden and Foundation Cerealia (Sweden); The Danish Obesity

Research Centre (DanORC, www.danorc.dk), The Danish Council for Strategic Research (DairyHealth, BioFunCarb) (Denmark), The Agricultural Productivity Fund (Iceland) and the Icelandic

Research Fund for graduate students (1206880061). AUTHOR INFORMATION AUTHORS AND AFFILIATIONS * Unit for Nutrition Research, Landspitali-The National University Hospital of Iceland,

Reykjavík, Iceland O K Magnusdottir, I Gunnarsdottir & I Thorsdottir * Faculty of Food Science and Nutrition and School of Health Sciences, University of Iceland, Reykjavík, Iceland O K

Magnusdottir, I Gunnarsdottir & I Thorsdottir * Department of Food Science, BioCenter, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Uppsala, Sweden R Landberg * Division of Nutritional

Epidemiology, Institute of Environmental Medicine, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden R Landberg * Biomedical Nutrition, Pure and Applied Biochemistry, Lund University, Lund, Sweden L

Cloetens & B Åkesson * Department of Clinical Nutrition, Skåne University Hospital, Lund, Sweden B Åkesson * Department of Endocrinology, Skåne University Hospital, Lund, Sweden M

Landin-Olsson * Department of Public Health and Caring Sciences, Clinical Nutrition and Metabolism, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden F Rosqvist, D Iggman & U Risérus * Center for

Clinical Research Dalarna, Falun, Sweden D Iggman * Institute of Public Health and Clinical Nutrition, University of Eastern Finland, Kuopio, Finland U Schwab, M Kolehmainen, K Poutanen 

& M Uusitupa * Institute of Clinical Medicine, Internal Medicine, Kuopio University Hospital, Kuopio, Finland U Schwab * Department of Physiology and Biocenter of Oulu, Institute of

Biomedicine, Oulu University, Oulu, Finland K-H Herzig * Department of Psychiatry, Kuopio University Hospital, Kuopio, Finland K-H Herzig * Department of Internal Medicine and Biocenter

Oulu, Institute of Clinical Medicine, University of Oulu, Oulu, Finland M J Savolainen * Clinical Research Center, Oulu University Hospital, Oulu, Finland M J Savolainen * Department of

Endocrinology and Internal Medicine, Aarhus University Hospital, Aarhus, Denmark L Brader & K Hermansen * VTT, Technical Research Centre of Finland, Espoo and Kuopio, Kuopio, Finland M

Kolehmainen & K Poutanen * Research Unit, Kuopio University Hospital, Kuopio, Finland M Uusitupa Authors * O K Magnusdottir View author publications You can also search for this author

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and permissions ABOUT THIS ARTICLE CITE THIS ARTICLE Magnusdottir, O., Landberg, R., Gunnarsdottir, I. _et al._ Plasma alkylresorcinols C17:0/C21:0 ratio, a biomarker of relative whole-grain

rye intake, is associated to insulin sensitivity: a randomized study. _Eur J Clin Nutr_ 68, 453–458 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1038/ejcn.2014.12 Download citation * Received: 04 October

2013 * Revised: 06 December 2013 * Accepted: 04 January 2014 * Published: 19 February 2014 * Issue Date: April 2014 * DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/ejcn.2014.12 SHARE THIS ARTICLE Anyone you

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Springer Nature SharedIt content-sharing initiative KEYWORDS * alkylresorcinols * insulin sensitivity * whole grain * rye