Lysophospholipids and branched chain amino acids are associated with aging: a metabolomics-based study of Chinese adults

BACKGROUND: Aging is an inevitable process associated with impairments in multiple organ systems, which increases the risk of comorbidity and disability, and reduces the health-span. Metabolomics is a powerful tool in aging research, which can reflect the characteristics of aging at the level of terminal metabolism, and may contribute to the exploration of aging mechanisms and the formulation of anti-aging strategies. METHODS: To identify possible biomarkers and pathways associated with aging using untargeted metabolomics methods, we performed liquid chromatography–mass spectrometry (LC–MS)-based untargeted metabolomics profiling on serum samples from 32 older adults and 32 sex-matched young controls. RESULTS: Metabolite profiling could distinguish the two groups. Among the 349 metabolites identified, 80—including lysophospholipids whose levels gradually decline—are possible candidate aging biomarkers. Valine, leucine and isoleucine degradation and biosynthesis were important pathways in aging, with reduced levels of l-isoleucine (r = − 0.30, p = 0.017) and l-leucine (r = − 0.32, p = 0.010) observed in older adults. CONCLUSIONS: We preliminarily revealed the metabolite changes associated with aging in Chinese adults. Decreases in mitochondrial membrane-related lysophospholipids and dysfunction of branched-chain amino acid metabolism were determined to be the characteristics and promising research targets for aging. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s40001-023-01021-w.