Background: Uncertainty remains about the effect of vitamin D therapy on biomarkers of health status in obesity. The molecular basis underlying this controversy is largely unknown.
Objective: To address the existing gap, our study sought to compare changes in metabolomic profiles of obesity phenotypes (metabolically healthy obese (MHO) and metabolically unhealthy obese (MUHO)) patients with sub-optimal levels of vitamin D following vitamin D supplementation.
Methods: We conducted two randomized double-blind clinical trials on participants with either of the two obesity phenotypes from Tehran province. These phenotypes were determined by the Adult Treatment Panel-III criteria. Patients in each of the MHO (n = 110) and MUHO (n = 105) groups were separately assigned to receive either vitamin D (4000 IU/d) or placebo for 4 months. Pre- and post-supplementation plasma metabolomic profiling were performed using Liquid chromatography coupled to a triple quadrupole mass spectrometry. Multivariable linear regression was used to explore the association of change in each metabolite with the trial assignment (vitamin D/placebo) across obesity phenotypes.
Results: Metabolites (n = 104) were profiled in 82 MHO and 78 MUHO patients. After correction for multiple comparisons, acyl-lysophosphatidylcholines C16:0, C18:0, and C18:1, diacyl-phosphatidylcholines C32:0, C34:1, C38:3, and C38:4, and sphingomyelin C40:4 changed significantly in response to vitamin D supplementation only in MUHO phenotype. The interaction analysis revealed that vitamin D therapy was different between the two obesity phenotypes based on acyl-lysophosphatidylcholines C16:0 and C16:1 and citrulline which were altered significantly after supplementation. Changes in metabolites were associated with changes in cardiometabolic biomarkers after the intervention.
Conclusions: Vitamin D treatment influenced the obesity-related plasma metabolites only in adults with obesity and metabolically unhealthy phenotype. Therefore, not all patients with obesity may benefit from an identical strategy for vitamin D therapy. These findings provide mechanistic basis highlighting the potential of precision medicine to mitigate diseases in health-care settings.