ArticleMetabolomics : Official journal of the Metabolomic Society2020
Urbanization in China is associated with pronounced perturbation of plasma metabolites.
Article in Metabolomics : Official journal of the Metabolomic Society, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 5 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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5 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 8 citations in OpenAlex.
- Urbanization gradient, diet, and gut microbiota in Sub-Saharan Africa: a systematic review.Frontiers in microbiomes · 2023Pooled it
- Determinants of the plasma metabolome: cross-sectional and longitudinal associations over six years in the NESDA cohort.EBioMedicine · 2026Article
- Identification and Clinical Evaluation of Potential Biomarkers for Breast Cancer Resistance Protein (BCRP/ABCG2).Clinical pharmacology and therapeutics · 2025Article
- Dietary patterns in Tanzania's transitioning rural and urban areas.Journal of health, population, and nutrition · 2025Article
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11 authors at 3 institutions in 2 countries.
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Abstract
introductionUrbanization is associated with major changes in environmental and lifestyle exposures that may influence metabolic signatures.
objectivesWe investigated cross-sectional urban and rural differences in plasma metabolome analyzed by liquid chromatography/mass spectrometry platform in 500 Chinese adults aged 25-68 years from two neighboring southern Chinese provinces.
methodsWe first examined the overall metabolome differences by urban and rural residential location, using Orthogonal Partial Least Squares Discriminant Analysis (OPLS-DA) and random forest classification. We then tested the association between urbanization status and individual metabolites using a linear regression adjusting for age, sex, and province and conducted pathway analysis (Fisher's exact test) to identify metabolic pathways differed by urbanization status.
resultsWe observed distinct overall metabolome by urbanization status in OPLS-DA and random forest classification. Using linear regression, out of a total of 1108 unique metabolite features identified in this sample, we found that 266 metabolites were differed by urbanization status (positive false discovery rate-adjusted p-value, q-value < 0.05). For example, the following metabolites were positively associated with urbanization status: caffeine metabolites from xanthine metabolism, hazardous pollutants like 4-hydroxychlorothalonil and perfluorooctanesulfonate, and metabolites implicated in cardiometabolic diseases, such as branched-chain amino acids. In pathway analysis, we found that xanthine metabolism pathways differed by urbanization status (q-value = 1.64E-04).
conclusionWe detected profound differences in host metabolites by urbanization status. Urban residents were characterized by metabolites signaling caffeine metabolism and toxic pollutants and metabolites on known pathways to cardiometabolic disease risks, compared to their rural counterparts. Our findings highlight the importance of considering urbanization in metabolomics analysis.
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