{"id":115566,"date":"2026-08-12T08:08:05","date_gmt":"2026-08-12T07:08:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.irbcatsud.cat\/specific-nutrients-associated-with-better-cognitive-function-during-aging\/"},"modified":"2026-08-12T08:10:57","modified_gmt":"2026-08-12T07:10:57","slug":"specific-nutrients-associated-with-better-cognitive-function-during-aging","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.irbcatsud.cat\/en\/specific-nutrients-associated-with-better-cognitive-function-during-aging\/","title":{"rendered":"A biochemical fingerprint identifies people with diabetes and insulin resistance who are at higher risk of mortality"},"content":{"rendered":"<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><span dir=\"auto\">A study led by the URV, IRB CatSud and CIBEROBN identifies molecular patterns in blood associated with these metabolic alterations and opens the door to personalized prevention strategies<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span dir=\"auto\">Type 2 diabetes and insulin resistance affect millions of people worldwide and significantly increase the risk of developing cardiovascular disease and other chronic conditions. However, the biological mechanisms that explain why these metabolic alterations are associated with a lower survival rate are still not fully understood. An international study led by researchers from Rovira i Virgili University, the Institute for Research in Biomedicine of Catalonia South (IRB CatSud), and the CIBER Network for Obesity and Nutrition (CIBEROBN) has identified a series of molecular patterns present in the blood that allow for the detection of individuals at higher risk of mortality.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span dir=\"auto\">The research, published in the journal\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><em><span dir=\"auto\">Metabolism<\/span><\/em><span dir=\"auto\">\u00a0\u00a0, was conducted within the framework of the PREDIMED project and is based on metabolomics, a discipline that analyzes hundreds of molecules in the body to obtain a detailed picture of its function. These molecules, called metabolites, are products of the body&#8217;s metabolic processes and contain information about genetic factors, diet, lifestyle, and a person&#8217;s health status.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span dir=\"auto\">The research team analyzed plasma samples\u2014the liquid fraction of blood in which blood cells float\u2014from nearly 700 elderly individuals with a high cardiometabolic risk. Using advanced mass spectrometry techniques, they examined hundreds of metabolites and identified 31 associated with type 2 diabetes and 105 related to insulin resistance.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span dir=\"auto\">Using this data, the researchers constructed two metabolomic signatures\u2014two biological fingerprints that reflect metabolic changes when type 2 diabetes and insulin resistance develop. The results show that people with a more pronounced presence of these signatures had a significantly higher risk of dying during the follow-up period.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span dir=\"auto\">More specifically, participants with a metabolic signature associated with type 2 diabetes had a 52% higher risk of mortality from any cause. In the case of insulin resistance, this increase was 33%. Furthermore, the researchers identified several metabolites common to both conditions, which were also associated with a worse prognosis.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span dir=\"auto\">To test the robustness of the results, the research team replicated the analysis in three large, independent US cohorts containing data collected over decades: the\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><em><span dir=\"auto\">Nurses&#8217; Health Study I<\/span><\/em><span dir=\"auto\">\u00a0\u00a0,\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><em><span dir=\"auto\">Nurses&#8217; Health Study II<\/span><\/em><span dir=\"auto\">\u00a0\u00a0, and\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><em><span dir=\"auto\">the Health Professionals Follow-up Study<\/span><\/em><span dir=\"auto\">\u00a0\u00a0. This external validation confirmed the associations initially observed in the Mediterranean population of PREDIMED.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span dir=\"auto\">\u201cThese results help us better understand the biological mechanisms that link alterations in glucose metabolism with mortality risk,\u201d explains Jes\u00fas F. Garc\u00eda Gavil\u00e1n, a researcher in the Department of Biochemistry and Biotechnology at the URV. The researcher, first author of the article, also highlights the potential of metabolomics: \u201cIf we gather enough evidence, metabolites can be a powerful tool for determining a patient\u2019s risk level, and could even pave the way for adopting precise and personalized prevention strategies.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span dir=\"auto\">The study is the result of extensive international collaboration between institutions in Spain and the United States, including the URV, IRB CatSud, CIBEROBN, the University of Navarra, the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, and the Broad Institute. The research was led by researchers from the ANUT-DSM group at the URV, IRB-CatSud, and CIBEROBN, and is part of a metabolomics research line supported by a National Institutes of Health project, coordinated by researchers Jordi Salas-Salvad\u00f3 (URV) and Frank Hu (Navarra).<\/span><\/p>\n<p><strong><span dir=\"auto\">Reference:<\/span><\/strong><span dir=\"auto\">\u00a0\u00a0Garc\u00eda-Gavil\u00e1n JF, Paz-Graniel I, P\u00e9rez-Acosta JA, Ruiz-Canela M, Li J, Clish C, et al.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><em><span dir=\"auto\">Metabolomic profiles of type 2 diabetes and insulin resistance and their associations with all-cause mortality<\/span><\/em><span dir=\"auto\">\u00a0\u00a0. Metabolism. 2026;156599.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A study led by the URV, IRB CatSud and CIBEROBN identifies molecular patterns in blood associated with these metabolic alterations and opens the door to personalized prevention strategies Type 2 diabetes and insulin resistance affect millions of people worldwide and significantly increase the risk of developing cardiovascular disease and other chronic conditions. However, the biological [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":36,"featured_media":115354,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1883,1026,1478,1479],"tags":[2469,2804,2565,3101,2293],"class_list":["post-115566","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-actualitat-en","category-noticies-iispv-en","category-publicacions-en","category-recerca-en","tag-ciberobn-en","tag-irb-catsud-en","tag-metabolism","tag-metabolomics","tag-urv-en"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.irbcatsud.cat\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/115566","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.irbcatsud.cat\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.irbcatsud.cat\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.irbcatsud.cat\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/36"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.irbcatsud.cat\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=115566"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.irbcatsud.cat\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/115566\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":115567,"href":"https:\/\/www.irbcatsud.cat\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/115566\/revisions\/115567"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.irbcatsud.cat\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/115354"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.irbcatsud.cat\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=115566"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.irbcatsud.cat\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=115566"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.irbcatsud.cat\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=115566"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}