The Association Between Polyamine Consumption and the Incidence of Diabetes

by | Feb 11, 2025 | 2025, Amino Acids, Diabetes, Recent Articles

Written by Harold Oster, MD. Results suggest that higher consumption of the polyamines spermidine and putrescine is associated with a lower incidence of diabetes, while increased spermine consumption is associated with a higher incidence. 

woman cookingThe prevalence of type 2 diabetes is increasing worldwide, leading to an increase in diabetic complications, including coronary artery disease, stroke, and kidney failure. Diabetics have a higher cardiovascular and overall mortality than nondiabetics1. The polyamines spermidine, spermine, and putrescine are found in all living cells. They have antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties and are involved in various biological processes, including cell proliferation. Increased intake of these compounds may help prevent cardiovascular disease and diabetes. Spermidine and putrescine are found primarily in plant foods, while meats have higher levels of spermine2.

Xiaohong Zhang et al. studied the relationship between polyamine consumption and the incidence of diabetes in adults. The authors gathered information from UK Biobank, a biomedical database containing health information from over 500,000 individuals over 403. Baseline data was gathered on nondiabetic adults between 2006 and 2010. Diet was assessed with the Oxford WebQ, a 24-hour computer-based dietary questionnaire4, administered at baseline and up to four times during the follow-up period. Polyamine intake was ascertained by comparing the intake of foods to a polyamine dietary database, and the participants were placed into quintiles of intake of spermidine, spermine, and putrescine, with quintile one being the lowest. At baseline, participants were evaluated for possible confounding variables, including demographics, body mass index, and exercise. The incidence of diabetes was determined by examining hospital admission codes.

The authors noted the following:

  • Based on exclusion criteria, data from 168,137 participants was analyzed.
  • The mean age of participants was 55.8 years.
  • 442 individuals were diagnosed with diabetes during follow-up.
  • After adjustment for covariables, participants in quintiles two through four for spermidine intake had a lower risk of developing diabetes than those in quintile one. (quintile 2: HR=0.87; quintile 3: HR=0.87; quintile 4: HR=0.91) There was no association with diabetes in quintile 5.
  • Participants in quintile 5 of spermine intake had an increased risk of diabetes compared to quintile 1. (HR=1.11) There was no association with diabetes in quintiles 2-4.
  • Participants in quintiles 2-5 of putrescine intake had a lower incidence of diabetes than those in quintile 1. (quintile 2: HR=0.84; quintile 3: HR=0.83; quintile 4: HR=0.82; and quintile 5: HR=0.87)

Results suggest that consumption of the polyamines spermidine and putrescine is associated with a lower incidence of diabetes, while increased spermine consumption is associated with a higher incidence. The study’s limitations include the use of dietary questionnaires and possible residual confounding.

Source: Zhang, Xiaohong, Mingxia Qian, Min Liu, Mengyao He, Fu-Rong Li, and Liqiang Zheng. “The Associations of Dietary Polyamines with Incident Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus: A Large Prospective Cohort Study.” Nutrients 17, no. 1 (2025): 186.

© 2025 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https://creativecommons.org/
licenses/by/4.0/).

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Posted February 11, 2025.

Harold Oster, MD graduated from medical school in Miami, Florida in 1992 and moved to Minnesota in 2004. After more than 25 years of practicing Internal Medicine, he recently retired. Dr. Oster is especially interested in nutrition, weight management, and disease prevention. Visit his website at haroldoster.com. 

References:

  1. Harding JL, Pavkov ME, Magliano DJ, Shaw JE, Gregg EW. Global trends in diabetes complications: a review of current evidence. Diabetologia. Jan 2019;62(1):3-16. doi:10.1007/s00125-018-4711-2
  2. Muñoz-Esparza NC, Latorre-Moratalla ML, Comas-Basté O, Toro-Funes N, Veciana-Nogués MT, Vidal-Carou MC. Polyamines in food. Frontiers in nutrition. 2019;6:108.
  3. Sudlow C, Gallacher J, Allen N, et al. UK biobank: an open access resource for identifying the causes of a wide range of complex diseases of middle and old age. PLoS medicine. 2015;12(3):e1001779.
  4. Liu B, Young H, Crowe FL, et al. Development and evaluation of the Oxford WebQ, a low-cost, web-based method for assessment of previous 24 h dietary intakes in large-scale prospective studies. Public Health Nutr. Nov 2011;14(11):1998-2005. doi:10.1017/s1368980011000942