Table 2.
Metabolites significantly associated with body mass index (BMI) in the censored linear regression Tobit models. The dependent variable was the log transformed and standardized concentration of a given metabolite, while independent variables were BMI, age, sex, and smoking habit. For each metabolite, the percent of variation was calculated with the formula: (exp(β) − 1) × 100, where β was the slope representing the increase of the metabolite in relation to the increase of BMI. The p-values adjusted for multiple testing by controlling the false discovery rate (FDR) are also reported. Only metabolites with FDR p-values lower than 0.05 were included in this table; complete results are reported in Supplementary Materials (Table S8).
| Positively Associated | |||
| Category | Metabolite | % Variation | FDR p-Value |
| Aminoacids | Tyrosine (Tyr) | 29.8 | 1.01 × 10−22 |
| Aminoacids | Valine (Val) | 23.2 | 1.12 × 10−14 |
| Aminoacids | Isoleucine (Ile) | 20.0 | 2.59 × 10−12 |
| PC aa | PC aa C38:3 | 21.1 | 4.02 × 10−12 |
| Aminoacids | Phenylalanine (Phe) | 20.4 | 1.35 × 10−11 |
| Aminoacids | Alanine (Ala) | 18.9 | 5.14 × 10−10 |
| Sugars | Sum of hexose (H1) | 17.8 | 1.31 × 10−9 |
| Aminoacids | Proline (Pro) | 18.1 | 1.62 × 10−9 |
| Aminoacids | Glutamic acid (Glu) | 17.1 | 1.18 × 10−8 |
| Biogenic Amines | Kynurenine | 16.1 | 4.64 × 10−8 |
| Aminoacids | Leucine (Leu) | 15.0 | 2.03 × 10−7 |
| PC aa | PC aa C40:4 | 14.3 | 4.71 × 10−6 |
| Acylcarnitines | Carnitine (C0) | 12.6 | 1.5 × 10−5 |
| Acylcarnitines | Propionylcarnitine (C3) | 12.2 | 4.61 × 10−5 |
| PC aa | PC aa C32:1 | 12.4 | 4.61 × 10−5 |
| Biogenic Amines | Aminoadipic acid (alpha-AAA) | 18.5 | 7.02 × 10−4 |
| Aminoacids | Ornithine (Orn) | 9.2 | 0.002 |
| Acylcarnitines | Acetylcarnitine (C2) | 9.1 | 0.003 |
| SM | SM C18:1 | 8.3 | 0.006 |
| Biogenic Amines | 4-Hydroxyproline (t4-OH-Pro) | 8.0 | 0.012 |
| PC aa | PC aa C38:4 | 7.6 | 0.015 |
| SM | SM C16:1 | 7.0 | 0.019 |
| lysoPC | lysoPC a C16:1 | 7.3 | 0.021 |
| Aminoacids | Lysine (Lys) | 7.1 | 0.026 |
| PC aa | PC aa C40:5 | 6.9 | 0.028 |
| Acylcarnitines | Valerylcarnitine (C5) | 6.5 | 0.037 |
| Negatively Associated | |||
| Category | Metabolite | % Variation | FDR p-Value |
| lysoPC | lysoPC a C18:2 | −23.3 | 1.28 × 10−22 |
| PC ae | PC ae C36:2 | −20.5 | 3.11 × 10−17 |
| PC ae | PC ae C34:3 | −20.2 | 1.36 × 10−16 |
| PC ae | PC ae C34:2 | −18.2 | 2.18 × 10−13 |
| PC ae | PC ae C40:6 | −16.1 | 3.50 × 10−10 |
| Aminoacids | Asparagine (Asn) | −16.1 | 5.24 × 10−10 |
| PC ae | PC ae C40:1 | −16.0 | 5.40 × 10−10 |
| lysoPC | lysoPC a C18:1 | −15.9 | 6.19 × 10−10 |
| PC ae | PC ae C38:0 | −15.2 | 1.59 × 10−9 |
| lysoPC | lysoPC a C17:0 | −14.3 | 7.32 × 10−8 |
| Aminoacids | Glycine (Gly) | −13.6 | 1.98 × 10−7 |
| PC aa | PC aa C38:6 | −12.9 | 1.31 × 10−6 |
| PC ae | PC ae C36:3 | −12.3 | 4.71 × 10−6 |
| PC aa | PC aa C38:0 | −11.7 | 1.52 × 10−5 |
| PC ae | PC ae C42:3 | −11.9 | 1.52 × 10−5 |
| Aminoacids | Histidine (His) | −11.8 | 1.61 × 10−5 |
| PC aa | PC aa C36:0 | −11.7 | 1.61 × 10−5 |
| PC aa | PC aa C42:5 | −11.6 | 3.00 × 10−5 |
| PC ae | PC ae C36:1 | −10.6 | 8.42 × 10−5 |
| PC aa | PC aa C36:6 | −10.6 | 9.45 × 10−5 |
| PC ae | PC ae C30:0 | −10.6 | 1.45 × 10−4 |
| SM | SM C24:1 | −10.5 | 1.51 × 10−4 |
| PC ae | PC ae C40:5 | −10.5 | 1.69 × 10−4 |
| PC aa | PC aa C34:2 | −10.5 | 1.91 × 10−4 |
| PC ae | PC ae C42:2 | −10.1 | 2.17 × 10−4 |
| PC ae | PC ae C44:6 | −10.3 | 2.32 × 10−4 |
| Aminoacids | Serine (Ser) | −10.0 | 4.03 × 10−4 |
| PC aa | PC aa C42:1 | −10.0 | 4.78 × 10−4 |
| PC ae | PC ae C34:1 | −9.5 | 5.05 × 10−4 |
| SM | SM C16:0 | −9.7 | 5.06 × 10−4 |
| PC aa | PC aa C42:6 | −10.5 | 7.24 × 10−4 |
| PC ae | PC ae C38:6 | −9.4 | 7.72 × 10−4 |
| PC ae | PC ae C32:1 | −9.0 | 0.002 |
| SM | SM C26:1 | −8.9 | 0.002 |
| SM | SM (OH) C22:2 | −8.3 | 0.002 |
| PC aa | PC aa C40:3 | −8.8 | 0.002 |
| PC ae | PC ae C42:1 | −8.9 | 0.002 |
| PC aa | PC aa C42:2 | −9.6 | 0.003 |
| PC aa | PC aa C42:0 | −8.4 | 0.003 |
| PC ae | PC ae C38:5 | −8.5 | 0.003 |
| PC ae | PC ae C42:4 | −8.4 | 0.003 |
| PC ae | PC ae C34:0 | −7.8 | 0.006 |
| PC ae | PC ae C36:5 | −7.9 | 0.006 |
| PC ae | PC ae C44:5 | −7.8 | 0.008 |
| PC aa | PC aa C40:2 | −7.3 | 0.015 |
| PC ae | PC ae C42:5 | −7.2 | 0.015 |
| PC ae | PC ae C36:0 | −7.1 | 0.017 |
| Biogenic Amines | Serotonin | −7.4 | 0.018 |
| PC ae | PC ae C32:2 | −6.7 | 0.019 |
| PC ae | PC ae C38:4 | −6.9 | 0.020 |
| SM | SM (OH) C16:1 | −6.7 | 0.021 |
| Biogenic Amines | Creatinine | −6.1 | 0.023 |
| Biogenic Amines | N-Acetylornithine (Ac-Orn) | −9.2 | 0.030 |
| Aminoacids | Citrulline (Cit) | −6.2 | 0.030 |
| Acylcarnitines | Dodecanoylcarnitine (C12) | −24.5 | 0.032 |
| SM | SM (OH) C14:1 | −5.9 | 0.041 |
| PC ae | PC ae C38:2 | −6.1 | 0.043 |