Preliminary Study on the Association of Serum Branched-Chain Amino Acids With Lipid and Hepatic Markers

Background: Serum levels of branched-chain amino acids (BCAAs) are associated with various vital physiological functions and thus el-evation in circulating levels results in several metabolic disturbances. Serum levels of BCAAs are strong predictors of various metabolic disorders. Their association with cardiovascular health is uncertain. The study aimed to investigate the association of BCAAs with circu-lating levels of vital cardiovascular and hepatic markers. Methods: The study population of 714 individuals was included from the population tested for the vital cardio and hepatic biomarkers at the Vibrant America Clinical Laboratories. The subjects were stratified into four quartiles based on the serum levels of BCAAs, and their association with viral markers was studied using the Kruskal-Wallis test. Pearson's correlation analyzed the univariant relationship of BCAA with selected cardio and hepatic markers. Results: BCAAs exhibited a strong negative correlation with serum high-density lipoprotein (HDL), and serum triglycerides were found to have a positive trend towards an increase in serum levels of leucine and valine. Univariant analysis exhibited a strong negative correlation between serum levels of BCAAs and HDL, and a positive correlation was observed between triglycerides and amino acids isoleucine and leucine. Among analyzed hepatic markers, alanine transaminase ex-hibited a considerable association with BCAAs. Conclusions: The elevated levels of serum BCAAs are strongly as-sociated with serum HDL and triglycerides. Thus, circulating levels of BCAAs can be used as effective predictors of metabolic and car-diovascular disorders.