Diet affects glycosylation of serum proteins in women at risk for cardiometabolic disease

BACKGROUND: Glycoproteomics deals with glycoproteins that are formed by post-translational modification when sugars (like fucose and sialic acid) are attached to protein. Glycosylation of proteins influences function, but whether glycosylation is altered by diet is unknown. OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the effect of consuming a diet based on the Dietary Guidelines for Americans on circulating glycoproteins that have previously been associated with cardiometabolic diseases. DESIGN: Forty-four women, with one or more metabolic syndrome characteristics, completed an 8-week randomized controlled feeding intervention (n = 22) consuming a diet based on the Dietary Guidelines for Americans (DGA 2010); the remaining consumed a ‘typical American diet’ (TAD, n = 22). Fasting serum samples were obtained at week0 (baseline) and week8 (post-intervention); 17 serum proteins were chosen for targeted analyses. Protein standards and serum samples were analyzed in a UHPLC-MS protocol to determine peptide concentration and their glycan (fucosylation or sialylation) profiles. Data at baseline were used in correlational analyses; change in proteins and glycans following intervention were used in non-parametric analyses. RESULTS: At baseline, women with more metabolic syndrome characteristics had more fucosylation (total di-fucosylated proteins: p = 0.045) compared to women with a lesser number of metabolic syndrome characteristics. Dietary refined grain intake was associated with increased total fucosylation (ρ = − 0.530, p < 0.001) and reduced total sialylation (ρ = 0.311, p = 0.042). After the 8-week intervention, there was higher sialylation following the DGA diet (Total di-sialylated protein p = 0.018, poly-sialylated orosomucoid p = 0.012) compared to the TAD diet. CONCLUSIONS: Based on this study, glycosylation of proteins is likely affected by dietary patterns; higher sialylation was associated with a healthier diet pattern. Altered glycosylation is associated with several diseases, particularly cancer and type 2 diabetes, and this study raises the possibility that diet may influence disease state by altering glycosylation. CLINICAL TRIAL REGISTRATION: NCT02298725 at clinicaltrials.gov; https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT02298725. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s00394-021-02539-7.