Sex differences in the (1)H NMR metabolic profile of serum in cardiovascular risk patients

Personalized diagnosis and risk stratification of cardiovascular diseases would allow optimizing therapeutic strategies and lifestyle changes. Metabolomics is a promising technique for personalized diagnosis and prognosis; however, various physiological parameters, including sex, influence the metabolic profile thus hampering its translation to the clinic. Knowledge of the variation in the metabolic profile associated with sex would facilitate metabolomic translation to the clinic. The objective of the present work was to investigate the possible differences in the metabolic (1)H NMR profile associated to sex beyond lipoproteins. (1)H NMR spectra from whole serum and methanol deproteinized samples from 39 patients (22 males, 17 females) between 55–70 years old with suspected coronary artery disease that underwent a stress test that was considered negative where included. Deproteinized serum could be used to differentiate sex based on higher levels of lactate and glucose in women. Lipoprotein region was the most variable area of the spectra between individuals, but spectra of whole serum were able to differentiate sex based on lipoproteins. There are sex-related differences in the (1)H NMR metabolic profile of individuals with suspected cardiovascular disease beyond lipoproteins. These findings may help the translation of metabolomics to the clinic.