Elevation of Serum Spermidine in Obese Patients: Results from a Cross-Sectional and Follow-Up Study

In their paper in Nutrients (2022), Gao et al outline the results of their cross-sectional study of a total of 4230 eligible Chinese rural participants aged ≥ 35 years at baseline were recruited, of whom 1738 completed the two-year follow-up. Participants continued to eat their normal diets without supplementation or additional instruction. Serum spermidine levels were measured using high-performance liquid chromatography with a fluorescence detector. Obesity and change in BMI were used as outcomes. Higher serum spermidine was associated with increased odds of obesity in the cross-sectional study but reduced odds for the increase in BMI in the follow-up study among Chinese adults. In the follow-up study, they found a reverse J-shaped relationship between spermidine and the change in BMI. Spermidine may be compensatorily elevated in obese people and have a protective effect against elevated BMI. In the future, more research is required to determine the exact mechanism underlying the association between spermidine and obesity and the scope for interventions.