Imidazole Propionate is Increased in Diabetes and Associated with Stool Consistency

Figures & data

Table 1 Patient Characteristics According to Stool Consistency

Characteristic	Stool Consistency (Normal) (n=56)	Stool Consistency (Abnormal) (n=40)	P value
ImP (nmol/L)	9.4±3.44	18.5±4.23	<0.001
Age (years)	54.8±3.27	60.0±3.19	0.017
Course of disease (years)	9.4±2.64	14.8±3.24	0.012
Weight (kg)	76.3±4.14	68.7±3.75	0.032
Height (cm)	169.5±3.12	168.2±8.16	0.491
BMI	26.3±2.04	24.4±4.12	0.031
Waist (cm)	95.4±3.47	92.1±3.52	0.116
Hip (cm)	98.5±3.02	97.1±3.04	0.376
Waist-hip ratio	1.0±0.25	0.9±0.25	0.147
Blood pressure (mmHg): systolic	129.8±5.35	130.8±4.43	0.456
Blood pressure (mmHg): diastolic	77.3±3.34	77.1±3.21	0.797
Capillary plasma glucose (mmol/L): fasting	7.3±1.55	7.4±2.78	0.854
Capillary plasma glucose (mmol/L): 2 h	16.0±2.07	15.2±2.03	0.419
Insulin (pmol/L): fasting	10.3±2.80	7.2±2.24	0.076
Insulin (pmol/L): 2 h	52.5±7.32	27.9±4.29	0.036
HbA1c (%)	8.8±1.40	8.8±1.34	0.928
HOMA-β	74.2±8.62	60.2±7.76	0.069
HOMA-IR	3.2±1.80	2.2±4.19	0.445
TC (mmol/L)	4.5±1.07	4.3±1.16	0.18
HDL (mmol/L)	0.9±0.46	1.0±0.50	0.314
LDL (mmol/L)	2.6±0.87	2.4±0.92	0.066
TG (mmol/L)	2.0±1.10	1.9±1.25	0.111

Abbreviations: ImP, imidazole propionate; BMI, body mass index; TC, total cholesterol; HDL, high-density lipoprotein cholesterol; TG, triglycerides; LDL, low-density lipoprotein cholesterol.

Table 2 Multiple Logistic Regression Analysis of the ImP

Characteristics	Correlation	P value
Stool consistency Normal	−0.326	0.002
Stool consistency Hard	0.279	0.009
Capillary plasma glucose (mmol/L): 2 h (mmol/L)	0.249	0.020
Weight (kg)	−0.197	0.067
BMI	−0.178	0.100
Course of disease (years)	0.140	0.196
Insulin (uIU/mL): 2 h	−0.135	0.212
Blood pressure (mmHg): diastolic	0.135	0.213
Age (years)	0.129	0.233
Insulin (uIU/mL): fasting	−0.128	0.236
Stool consistency Soft	0.110	0.309
Capillary plasma glucose (mmol/L): fasting	0.109	0.316
HbA1c (%)	0.103	0.344
HOMA-IR	−0.099	0.362
HOMA-β	−0.083	0.446
Height (cm)	−0.081	0.457
LDL (mmol/L)	−0.080	0.460
Waist (cm)	−0.043	0.693
TC (mmol/L)	−0.039	0.718
HDL (mmol/L)	0.035	0.747
Blood pressure (mmHg): systolic	0.033	0.764
Waist-hip ratio	0.032	0.767
Sex Female	−0.031	0.772
Sex Male	0.031	0.772
Hip (cm)	−0.008	0.939
TG (mmol/L)	<0.001	0.999

Abbreviations: BMI, body mass index; TC, total cholesterol; HDL, high-density lipoprotein cholesterol; TG, triglycerides; LDL, low-density lipoprotein cholesterol.

Figure 1 Imidazole propionate is associated with the stool consistency. (A and B) Plasma levels of imidazole propionate (ImP) in subjects with Type 2 diabetes divided according to the stool consistency. (C) Plasma levels of ImP in healthy subjects divided according to the stool consistency. **P < 0.01, ***P < 0.001.

Abbreviations: H, hard; S, soft; N, normal.

Figure 2 Imidazole propionate is associated with bile acids. (A) Imidazole propionate (ImP) level of subjects with LCA ≤ 30% was significantly higher than that of those with LCA > 30%. (B) Subjects with CDCA ≥ 5% had significantly higher ImP levels than those with CDCA < 5%. **P < 0.01.

Abbreviations: CDCA, chenodeoxycholic acid; LCA, lithocholic acid.

Table 3 Multiple Logistic Regression Analysis of the ImP and Bile Acids

Bile Acid	Correlation (Feces)	P value (Feces)	Correlation (Plasma)	P value (Plasma)
CA	−0.075	0.233	−0.003	0.015
CDCA	−0.03	0.59	−0.008	0.836
DCA	0.022	0.399	0.007	0.394
LCA	0.006	0.415	−0.038	0.780
TUDCA	−0.141	0.091	0.694	0.633
HDCA	−0.056	0.328	−0.025	0.111
GUDCA	0.441	0.074	−0.015	0.755
GDCA	−0.019	0.414	−0.013	0.501
TDCA	0.006	0.421	0.221	0.003
UDCA	0.017	0.056	0.012	0.468
GCDCA	0.096	0.096	0.020	0.021
GCA	−0.083	0.086	−0.040	0.031
TCA	0.102	0.003	0.0140	0.440

Abbreviations: CA, cholic acid; CDCA, chenodeoxycholic acid; DCA, deoxycholic acid; LCA, lithocholic acid; TUDCA, tauroursodeoxycholic acid; HDCA, hyodeoxycholic acid; GUDCA, glycoursodeoxycholic acid; GDCA, glycodeoxycholic acid; TDCA, taurodeoxycholate; UDCA, ursodeoxycholic acid; GCDCA, glycochenodeoxycholate; GCA, glycocholic acid; TCA, taurocholic acid.

Figure 3 Classification of microbial diversity in patients with different fecal consistencies. (A) The Shannon index of group N was significantly higher than that of Group H and Group S. (B) These three groups were separated into different clusters in the UniFrac PCoA. (C and D) Bar plots of the relative abundances of the three groups at the phylum level and the genus level. *P < 0.05, **P < 0.01.