Changes in urinary metabolomic profile show the effectiveness of a nutritional intervention in children 6–12 years old: The ALINFA study

Diet plays an essential role in health and disease. Therefore, its determination is an
\nimportant component of many investigations. The aim of the study was to evaluate
\nthe effect of a nutritional intervention on the urinary metabolome in children aged
\n6–12 years. Also, it was intended to identify biomarkers of diet quality and dietary
\nintake. A 2-month, randomized, controlled, parallel trial was conducted in Spanish children. The analyses focused on the ALINFA group, which followed a full-fixed meal
\nplan including healthy products, ready-to-eat meals, and healthy recipes. Diet quality
\nwas assessed by the KIDMED index and dietary intake by a food frequency questionnaire. Untargeted metabolomic analysis on urine samples was carried out, and
\nmultivariate analyses were performed for pattern recognition and characteristic metabolite identification. PLS-DA and Volcano plot analyses were performed to identify
\nthe discriminating metabolites of this group. 12 putative metabolites were found to
\nbe the most relevant to this intervention. Most of them were products derived from
\nprotein and amino acid metabolism (N-Ribosylhistidine, indolacrylic acid, and peptides)
\nand lipid metabolism (3-oxo-2-pentylcyclopentane-1-hexanoic acid methyl, SuberoylL-carnitine, and 7-Dehydrodichapetalin E). All these metabolites decreased after the
\nintervention, which was mainly associated with a decrease in the consumption of fatty
\nmeat and total fat, especially saturated fat. In turn, N-Ribosylhistidine and SuberoylL-carnitine were negatively associated with diet quality, as well as able to predict the
\nchange in KIDMED index. In conclusion, the changes observed in urinary metabolome
\ndemonstrate the effectiveness of the ALINFA nutritional intervention.