Association of whole blood polyamine with some metabolic risk profiles among middle-aged Japanese men

INTRODUCTION: Naturally-occurring polyamines are aliphatic polycations found in every living cells and have important roles in a large number of biochemical and physiological functions. Their etiological significance at physiological concentrations have received relatively little attention in terms of its association with metabolic risks. This study aims to examine the relationship between the whole blood polyamine concentrations and some indices of glycemic and lipid profiles in a middle-aged, healthy, working male population.

METHODS: The study population consists of 1,807 male employees (aged 40-59) of the local government, Aichi Prefecture, central Japan, who participated in a health checkup program conducted in 1997. To determine the whole blood levels of polyamines, we adopted a colorimetric assay using oat and barley seedling polyamine oxidase; the detail of this method was described elsewhere (Takagi et al. Clin Chim Acta 2004). The polyamine concentration was corrected for hematocrit levels in each subject, and the subjects were accordingly quartiled. An analysis of covariance was performed to model the multivariate-adjusted association between the polyamine concentration and some metabolic risks: fasting  glucose, fructose, triglycerides, LDL-cholesterol, HDL-cholesterol, and uric acid levels in the serum.

RESULTS: A statistically significant association between the polyamine concentration and fasting glucose was demonstrated with a significant fit for linear trend. Other metabolic biomarkers did not show a significant association with the polyamine concentrations, however.

CONCLUSIONS: The observed association between the circulating polyamine and fasting blood glucose level was consistent with our previous results (Kondo et al, EHPM 2008), and suggests the possibility of a feedback mechanism for protection against glycation under the hyperglycemic condition.