ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Nutr.
Sec. Nutrition and Metabolism
Volume 12 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fnut.2025.1672143
This article is part of the Research TopicRecent Insights in Vegetarian NutritionView all 4 articles
Serum metabolomic signatures of vegetarians relative to omnivores in a Chinese cohort: associations with cardiometabolic risk factors
Provisionally accepted
- 1Shanghai Jiaotong University School of Medicine Xinhua Hospital, Shanghai, China
- 2School of Medicine, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, China
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Introduction: This study aimed to compare serum metabolomic profiles between vegetarians and omnivores in a Chinese cohort and investigate their associations with cardiometabolic risk factors, including obesity, blood pressure, lipid profiles, and glucose metabolism. Materials and methods: A cross-sectional study included 444 participants (222 vegetarians and 222 omnivores) matched by age and sex. Serum metabolomic profiling was performed using ultra-performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry. Correlation analyses and multivariate linear regression models were employed to examine the associations between metabolites and cardiometabolic risk factors, adjusting for potential confounders such as age, sex, physical activity, and dietary patterns. Results: Seventeen key differential metabolites were identified, with 11 upregulated (e.g., maleic acid, methylcys-teine, citric acid, indolepropionic acid [IPA]) and 6 downregulated (e.g., docosahexaenoic acid, eicosapentaenoic acid, creatine) in vegetarians compared to omnivores. After adjusting for covariates, metabolites such as methyl-cysteine, aconitic acid, and IPA were inversely associated with obesity indices (BMI, waist-to-hip ratio, body fat percentage), blood pressure, and lipid profiles, while creatine showed positive associations with obesity markers. Notably, IPA was linked to reduced systolic and diastolic blood pressure, and aconitic acid correlated with im-proved insulin sensitivity. Dietary analysis revealed that IPA and methylcysteine were positively associated with plant-based foods such as whole grains, millet, and legumes, while docosahexaenoic acid and eicosapentaenoic acid showed strong positive correlations with animal-based foods, particularly seafood. Conclusions: Vegetarian diets are associated with unique serum metabolomic profiles that may improve cardi-ometabolic health.
Keywords: Vegetarian diets, omnivorous diets, Metabolomics, Cardiometabolic risk factors, dietary intake
Received: 24 Jul 2025; Accepted: 04 Sep 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Yao, Qian, Jin, Wang, Lu, Song and Shen. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Xiuhua Shen, Shanghai Jiaotong University School of Medicine Xinhua Hospital, Shanghai, China
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