(P19-030-25) Fermented Vegetable Consumption Alters the Amino Acid Composition of Fecal Metabolome in Adults Aged 35–64 Years

Objectives: This study examined the effects of regular consumption of fermented vegetables for eight weeks on bacterial metabolites in stool from adults aged 35-64 years with risk factors for cardiovascular disease.

Methods: Male and Female adults were randomized into a fermented vegetable (FV) group who consumed 100 g of lacto-fermented cabbage at least five times per week for eight weeks or a usual diet (UD) group. Fecal samples were collected before and after the intervention. Fecal extracts were examined by liquid chromatography – mass spectrometry (LC-MS) metabolomic analysis, including untargeted modeling and targeted quantification of amino acids, bile acids and fatty acids. One way analysis of variance (ANOVA) and paired t-tests were conducted to compare the metabolites of interest between and within groups, respectively.

Results: Untargeted analysis of fecal metabolome revealed the separation of post-intervention FV group from pre- and post-intervention UD group and pre-intervention FV group, indicating that FV altered fecal metabolites. Quantitative analysis showed that the relative abundance of alanine significantly increased (55.1 vs 43.7%, p=0.0011) while valine (1.3 vs 2.2%, p=0.0011), aspartic acid (1.6 vs 2.0%, p=), glutamic acid (22.3 vs 26.0%, p=0.017) and lysine (4.5 vs 6.0%, p=0.021) decreased post intervention in the FV group. Alanine was also higher in the FV group compared to the UD group (p=0.035), while valine (p=0.017) and isoleucine (p=0.027) were significantly lower in the FV group compared to the UD group at eight weeks. There were no significant changes on short chain fatty acids and bile acids between or within groups. Stearic acid (C18:0) abundance was significantly increased in the FV group (2.6%) both when compared with pre-intervention abundance (1.9%) and UD post-intervention (2.0%), but no changes were observed in other long-chain fatty acids.

Conclusions: Consumption of 100 g of fermented vegetables most days of the week for eight weeks might affect the microbial metabolism of amino acids as revealed by altered fecal metabolome.

Funding Sources: This study was funded by the Scott R. MacKenzie Foundation.