High plasma glutamate and low glutamine-to-glutamate ratio are associated with type 2 diabetes: Case-cohort study within the PREDIMED trial

[Background and aims] Glutamate, glutamine are involved in energy metabolism, and have been related to cardiometabolic disorders. However, their roles in the development of type-2 diabetes (T2D) remain unclear. The aim of this study was to examine the effects of Mediterranean diet on associations between glutamine, glutamate, glutamine-to-glutamate ratio, and risk of new-onset T2D in a Spanish population at high risk for cardiovascular disease (CVD).
[Methods and results] The present study was built within the PREDIMED trial using a case-cohort design including 892 participants with 251 incident T2D cases and 641 non-cases. Participants (mean age 66.3 years; female 62.8%) were non diabetic and at high risk for CVD at baseline. Plasma levels of glutamine and glutamate were measured at baseline and after 1-year of intervention. Higher glutamate levels at baseline were associated with increased risk of T2D with a hazard ratio (HR) of 2.78 (95% CI, 1.43–5.41, P for trend = 0.0002). In contrast, baseline levels of glutamine (HR: 0.64, 95% CI, 0.36–1.12; P for trend = 0.04) and glutamine-to-glutamate ratio (HR: 0.31, 95% CI, 0.16–0.57; P for trend = 0.0001) were inversely associated with T2D risk when comparing extreme quartiles. The two Mediterranean diets (MedDiet + EVOO and MedDiet + mixed nuts) did not alter levels of glutamine and glutamate after intervention for 1 year. However, MedDiet mitigated the positive association between higher baseline plasma glutamate and T2D risk (P for interaction = 0.01).
[Conclusion] Higher levels of glutamate and lower levels of glutamine were associated with increased risk of T2D in a Spanish population at high risk for CVD. Mediterranean diet might mitigate the association between the imbalance of glutamine and glutamate and T2D risk.
Dr. Jordi Salas-Salvadó has have received grants from the International Nut and Dried Fruit Foundation and is a non-paid member of the scientific advisory board of the International Nut and Dried Fruit Foundation. Dr. Marta Guasch-Ferré was supported by a postdoctoral fellowship granted by the Lilly Foundation European Association of Diabetes (EASD) through the Institut d’Investigacions Sanitàries Pere i Virgili (IISPV), Spain, Tarragona, Spain. Dr. Christopher Papandreou was supported by a postdoctoral fellowship granted by the Autonomous Government of Catalonia, Spain (PERIS 2016–2020 Incorporació de Científics I Tecnòlegs, SLT002/0016/00428).