533-P: Association of Serum Branched-Chain Amino Acids with Kidney Function Decline in Type 2 Diabetes: The Hong Kong Diabetes Register
Authors: LIM LEE-LING , LAU ERIC S. , LEE HEUNG MAN , TAM CLAUDIA H. , LIM CADMON K.P. , LUK ANDREA , CHOW ELAINE , MA RONALD C. , CHAN JULIANA C. , KONG ALICE P. 
Published: June 2019

Background: There are recent claims that high dietary BCAA may improve insulin resistance although this conflicts with the recommendation that low protein/BCAA diet may confer renoprotection in patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD) stages 3-5. Type 2 diabetes (T2D) has dysregulated energy metabolism where excessive BCAA intake can be harmful. We examined the risk association of BCAA and rate of estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) decline in a prospective T2D cohort.

Method: We measured serum BCAA in 2340 adults with CKD stages 1-2 at baseline with available stored sera. By using linear regression analysis, we examined the association of serum BCAA with annual change in eGFR, which was estimated from a linear mixed model using at least three eGFR measurements from baseline until the onset of CKD or data censored on June 2017.

Results: In this study cohort with mean±SD follow-up of 10.0±5.3 years (age 55.2±11.2 years, BMI 25.4±4.3 kg/m2, HbA1c 7.6±1.7%, annual change in eGFR -1.37±1.28 ml/min/1.73m2), patients with incident CKD had higher serum BCAA (median [IQR]: 622.7 [540.3-730] vs. 595.8 [518.3-680.3] µM; P&lt;0.001) and usage of blood pressure (BP)-lowering drugs (56.2% vs. 33.7%; P&lt;0.001) at baseline than those without CKD. Every doubling of serum BCAA was associated with faster eGFR decline (β -0.24 [95% CI -0.34, -0.14]; P&lt;0.001) that remained significant after adjusting for age, sex and diabetes duration (β -0.27 [-0.37, -0.18]; P&lt;0.001). The effect was attenuated by further adjustment of HbA1c, BMI, lipids, BP and related drug usage (β -0.16 [-0.27, -0.05]; P=0.003), as well as by retinopathy, albuminuria and eGFR at baseline (β -0.13 [-0.23, -0.02]; P=0.016). There was no significant BCAA-sex interaction.

Conclusions: In Chinese T2D patients with CKD stages 1-2, high serum BCAA was independently associated with a modest decline in eGFR, suggesting the renoprotective effect of a low BCAA diet may be extended to early CKD with careful monitoring.

Disclosure

L. Lim: Research Support; Self; AstraZeneca. Speaker's Bureau; Self; Boehringer Ingelheim Pharmaceuticals, Inc., Merck & Co., Inc. E.S. Lau: None. H. Lee: None. C.H. Tam: None. C.K. Lim: None. A. Luk: None. E. Chow: Research Support; Self; Powder Pharmaceuticals Inc., Sanofi-Aventis. R.C. Ma: Advisory Panel; Self; Boehringer Ingelheim International GmbH. Research Support; Self; AstraZeneca, Bayer AG, Pfizer Inc. Stock/Shareholder; Self; GemVCare. Other Relationship; Self; AstraZeneca. J.C. Chan: Board Member; Self; Asia Diabetes Foundation. Consultant; Self; AstraZeneca, Boehringer Ingelheim Pharmaceuticals, Inc., Lilly Diabetes, Medtronic, Merck Sharp & Dohme Corp., Sanofi-Aventis. Research Support; Self; Amgen Inc., AstraZeneca, Lee Powder, Lilly Diabetes, Pfizer Inc., Sanofi-Aventis. Speaker's Bureau; Self; Ascensia Diabetes Care. Stock/Shareholder; Self; GemVCare. A.P. Kong: Advisory Panel; Self; Lilly Diabetes. Research Support; Self; AstraZeneca, Lilly Diabetes. Speaker's Bureau; Self; Abbott. Other Relationship; Self; AstraZeneca, Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corporation, Sanofi.

Funding

Hong Kong Society of Endocrinology, Metabolism and Reproduction; Hong Kong Association for the Study of Obesity