(LB01-20-25) Capturing the Post-prandial Response of Mushroom-Specific Metabolites

Objectives: Mushrooms are dietary sources of many nutrients including B vitamins (B2, B3, folate, B5), minerals (Se, Cu, K), and beta-glucans. Nutrimetabolomics enables the identification of compounds that can be used as biomarkers of consumption. Here, we used untargeted metabolomics to identify compounds specific to white button or oyster mushrooms and capture postprandial changes in plasma after participants consume varying amounts of the mushrooms.

Methods: For this randomized, crossover acute feeding study (across five testing days), plasma samples from five male participants were obtained before and hourly for five hours after consuming a standardized meal without mushrooms, or with one (84g wet weight) or two (164 g) servings of oyster or white button mushrooms. Metabolite compounds were identified in plasma, mushrooms, and each other food in the meal using liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry-based metabolomics. Mushroom-specific compounds with >95% missingness across plasma samples were removed. We evaluated associations between areas under the curve (AUC) across the six timepoints and mushroom consumption using linear mixed models with a random intercept for participant. Significance was assessed using false discovery rate < 0.05.

Results: For the 203 compounds specific to both oyster and white button mushrooms, four had greater post-prandial AUC on average when participants consumed either mushroom variety compared to when participants did not consume mushrooms (global p<sub>unadj < 0.05). Of 38 white-button-specific compounds, one had greater post-prandial AUC on average when participants consumed white button mushrooms (global p<sub>unadj=0.047). Of the 39 oyster-specific compounds in plasma, two (Rehmaglutin C and Isolobelanine) had greater postprandial AUC on average when participants consumed oyster mushrooms (global FDR=0.02 and p<sub>unadj=0.01, respectively). Notably, Rehmaglutin C is a constituent of the plant Rehmannia glutinosa- a common component of Traditional Chinese Medicine used to reduce inflammation and enhance the immune system.

Conclusions: This work reveals previously unknown patterns of mushroom-specific compound post-prandial responses and serves as a model for future studies investigating nutrimetabolomic outcomes using untargeted metabolomics.

Funding Sources: Mushroom Council
NIH 1R01DK113957-01A1