Metabolic profiles of socioeconomic position: a multi-cohort analysis
File(s)
Published version
Author(s)
Type
Journal Article
Abstract
Background
Low socioeconomic position (SEP) is a risk factor for multiple health outcomes, but its molecular imprints in the body remain unclear.
Methods
We examined SEP as a determinant of serum nuclear magnetic resonance metabolic profiles, in approximately 30,000 adults and 4,000 children across ten UK and Finnish cohort studies.
Results
In risk factor-adjusted analysis of 233 metabolic measures, low educational attainment was associated with 37 measures including higher levels of triglycerides in small high-density lipoproteins (HDL) and lower levels of docosahexaenoic acid (DHA), omega-3 fatty acids, apolipoprotein A1, large and very large HDL particles (including levels of their respective lipid constituents), and cholesterol measures across different density lipoproteins. Among adults whose father worked in manual occupations, associations with apolipoprotein A1, large and very large HDL particles and HDL-2 cholesterol remained after adjustment for SEP in later life. Among manual workers, levels of glutamine were higher compared to non-manual workers. All three indicators of low SEP were associated with lower DHA, omega-3 fatty acids and HDL diameter. At all ages, children of manual workers had lower levels of DHA as a proportion of total fatty acids.
Conclusions
Our work indicates that social and economic factors have a measurable impact on human physiology. Lower SEP was independently associated with a generally unfavorable metabolic profile, consistent across ages and cohorts. The metabolites we found associated with SEP, including DHA, are known to predict cardiovascular disease and cognitive decline in later life and may contribute to health inequalities.
Low socioeconomic position (SEP) is a risk factor for multiple health outcomes, but its molecular imprints in the body remain unclear.
Methods
We examined SEP as a determinant of serum nuclear magnetic resonance metabolic profiles, in approximately 30,000 adults and 4,000 children across ten UK and Finnish cohort studies.
Results
In risk factor-adjusted analysis of 233 metabolic measures, low educational attainment was associated with 37 measures including higher levels of triglycerides in small high-density lipoproteins (HDL) and lower levels of docosahexaenoic acid (DHA), omega-3 fatty acids, apolipoprotein A1, large and very large HDL particles (including levels of their respective lipid constituents), and cholesterol measures across different density lipoproteins. Among adults whose father worked in manual occupations, associations with apolipoprotein A1, large and very large HDL particles and HDL-2 cholesterol remained after adjustment for SEP in later life. Among manual workers, levels of glutamine were higher compared to non-manual workers. All three indicators of low SEP were associated with lower DHA, omega-3 fatty acids and HDL diameter. At all ages, children of manual workers had lower levels of DHA as a proportion of total fatty acids.
Conclusions
Our work indicates that social and economic factors have a measurable impact on human physiology. Lower SEP was independently associated with a generally unfavorable metabolic profile, consistent across ages and cohorts. The metabolites we found associated with SEP, including DHA, are known to predict cardiovascular disease and cognitive decline in later life and may contribute to health inequalities.
Date Issued
2021-06
Date Acceptance
2020-09-01
Citation
International Journal of Epidemiology, 2021, 50 (3), pp.768-782
ISSN
0300-5771
Publisher
Oxford University Press (OUP)
Start Page
768
End Page
782
Journal / Book Title
International Journal of Epidemiology
Volume
50
Issue
3
Copyright Statement
© The Author(s) 2020. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the International Epidemiological Association.
This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted reuse, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted reuse, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
License URL
Sponsor
Medical Research Council (MRC)
Medical Research Council (MRC)
UNIVERSITY OF OULU
Identifier
https://academic.oup.com/ije/article/50/3/768/5998283
Grant Number
MR/M501669/1
MR/S03532X/1
Nil
Subjects
Socio-economic status
education
life course
lipoproteins
metabolomics
metabonomic
occupation
0104 Statistics
1117 Public Health and Health Services
Epidemiology
Publication Status
Published
Date Publish Online
2020-11-21