(P29-010-25) Pemmican Supplementation Linked to Beneficial Metabolite Signature in Marines During Cold Weather Operations Training

Objectives: We evaluated the impact of pemmican supplementation on the blood metabolome during high altitude, cold weather operations (CWO) military training.

Methods: Active duty, male Marines (n=51, 23.6±4.4y) participating in a four-week mountain warfare exercise at the Marine Corps Mountain Warfare Training Command (MCMWTC) were randomly assigned to either PEMM (n=18; pemmican, EPIC™), PLANT (n=19; vegan analogue, Possible®), or CON (n=14; control, no intervention) groups. The PEMM and PLANT groups were asked to consume 390 kcal/d of the supplement bars (i.e., isocaloric equivalent to three PEMM bars [protein=21g] or one PLANT bar [protein=20g]) with no other changes to diet. Dried blood spot (DBS) samples were collected at baseline, mid- (Day 20) and post-training (Days 26/27) and analyzed for shifts in metabolites using untargeted metabolomics on a Vanquish UHPLC system coupled with a Q Exactive™ HF-X Hybrid Quadrupole-Orbitrap™ Mass Spectrometer. Differences in metabolites were modeled using orthogonal partial least square discriminant analysis (OPLSDA) using SIMCA. Pathway enrichment analyses were conducted using the Mummichog algorithm Functional Analysis in Metaboanalyst.

Results: The PEMM group consumed 86% and the PLANT group consumed 83% of the bars provided. For participants with DBS samples at all three timepoints (PEMM, n=6; PLANT, n=8; CON, n=7), OPLSDA plots showed differentiation at mid and post timepoints for both PEMM (R2Y=0.96 to 0.988) and PLANT (R2Y=0.96 to 0.978) compared to CON. Metabolomics analysis identified 1311 important metabolites and four enriched pathways (p < 0.05) that differentiated PEMM and CON, and 1532 important metabolites and two enriched pathways (p < 0.05) that differentiated PLANT and CON. Enriched pathways for PEMM vs CON included alanine, aspartate and glutamate metabolism, pantothenate and CoA biosynthesis, arginine and proline metabolism, and valine, leucine, isoleucine biosynthesis. Top pathways for PLANT vs CON included histidine and D-amino acid metabolism.

Conclusions: Ingestion of PEMM and PLANT supplement bars in environmentally-stressed Marines was linked to a metabolite signature of important amino acids that play key roles in multiple metabolic pathways involved in performance and recovery.

Funding Sources: Office of Naval Research