Researchers from the Keck School of Medicine of the University of Southern California, funded by the National Institutes of Health, conducted a study focusing on prediabetes in young Latino people. The study found that adding two specific metabolites—allylphenol sulfate and caprylic acid—to existing prediction models significantly improved their ability to predict prediabetes in children beyond traditional risk factors like obesity and blood sugar levels.
The research involved two cohorts: a discovery cohort of 143 Hispanic youths without baseline prediabetes and a validation cohort of 56 predominantly Hispanic young adults without baseline prediabetes. The participants underwent 2-hour oral glucose tolerance tests, and researchers measured their baseline metabolite levels. The researchers employed advanced machine learning techniques to analyze substances from glucose tolerance tests, identifying the two metabolites as significant predictors of prediabetes when combined with other risk factors.
Ref: Goodrich JA, Wang H, Walker DI, et al. Postprandial Metabolite Profiles and Risk of Prediabetes in Young People: A Longitudinal Multicohort Study. Diabetes Care. Published online November 16, 2023:dc230327. doi:10.2337/dc23-0327