Dietary intakes of branched-chain amino acids and plasma lipid profiles among filipino women in Korea: the Filipino Women’s Diet and Health Study (FiLWHEL)

BACKGROUND: The potential role of dietary branched-chain amino acids (BCAA) in metabolic health, including cardiovascular disease and diabetes, is evolving, and it is yet to be understood if dietary BCAA intakes are associated with plasma lipid profiles or dyslipidaemia. This study tested the association of dietary BCAA intakes with plasma lipid profiles and dyslipidaemia among Filipino women in Korea. METHODS: Energy-adjusted dietary BCAA intakes (isoleucine, leucine, valine, and total BCAA) and fasting blood profiles of triglycerides (TG), total cholesterol (TC), high-density lipoprotein-cholesterol (HDL-C), and low-density lipoprotein-cholesterol (LDL-C) were determined in a sample of 423 women enrolled in the Filipino Women’s Diet and Health Study (FiLWHEL). The generalized linear model was applied to estimate least-square (LS) means and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) and compare plasma TG, TC, HDL-C, and LDL-C across tertile distribution of energy-adjusted dietary BCAA intakes at P < 0.05. RESULTS: Mean of energy-adjusted dietary total BCAA intake was 8.3 ± 3.9 g/d. Average plasma lipid profiles were 88.5 ± 47.4 mg/dl for TG, 179.7 ± 34.5 mg/dl for TC, 58.0 ± 13.7 mg/dl for HDL-C, and 104.0 ± 30.5 mg/dl for LDL-C. LS means, and 95% CIs across tertiles of energy-adjusted total BCAA intakes were 89.9 mg/dl, 88.8 mg/dl and 85.8 mg/dl (P-trend = 0.45) for TG, 179.1 mg/dl, 183.6 mg/dl and 176.5 mg/dl (P-trend = 0.48) for TC, 57.5 mg/dl, 59.6 mg/dl and 57.1 mg/dl (P-trend = 0.75) for HDL-C and 103.6 mg/dl, 106.2 mg/dl and 102.3 mg/dl (P-trend = 0.68) for LDL-C. Furthermore, the multivariable-adjusted prevalence ratios and 95% confidence intervals for dyslipidaemia across increasing tertile distribution of energy-adjusted total BCAA intake were; 1.00, 0.67 (0.40, 1.13) and 0.45 (0.16, 1.27; P-trend = 0.03) for the first, second and third tertile, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: Higher dietary intakes of BCAA presented a statistically significant inverse trend with the prevalence of dyslipidaemia among Filipino women in this study and testing these associations in longitudinal studies may be necessary to confirm these findings. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12937-023-00861-w.