Customized Dietary Intervention Avoids Unintentional Weight Loss and Modulates Circulating miRNAs Footprint in Huntington's Disease

• Published in: Molecular nutrition & food research Vol. 62; no. 23; pp. e1800619 - n/a
• Main Authors: Aganzo, Miguel, Montojo, María‐Teresa, López de Las Hazas, María‐Carmen, Martínez‐Descals, Asunción, Ricote‐Vila, Marta, Sanz, Raúl, González‐Peralta, Irene, Martín‐Hernández, Roberto, Dios, Olaya, Garcés, Carmen, Galdón, Alba, Lorenzo, Óscar, Tomás‐Zapico, Cristina, Dávalos, Alberto, Vázquez, Clotilde, González, Nieves
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Germany Wiley Subscription Services, Inc 01.12.2018
• Subjects: Adult; Aged; Biomarkers; Body Composition; Body fat; Body mass; Body Mass Index; Body weight loss; Circulating MicroRNA - blood; Cognitive ability; Customization; Diet; Energy Intake; Female; Footprints; Humans; Huntington Disease - complications; Huntington Disease - diet therapy; Huntington Disease - genetics; Huntington's disease; Huntingtons disease; Intervention; Leptin; Leptin - blood; Literature reviews; Male; microRNA; MicroRNAs - blood; Middle Aged; miRNA; Neurodegenerative diseases; neurology; nutrition; Nutrition Assessment; Precision Medicine - methods; Weight loss; Weight Loss - genetics; microRNA; nutrition; diet; Huntington's disease; neurology
• ISSN: 1613-4125; 1613-4133
• DOI: 10.1002/mnfr.201800619

Scope Huntington's disease (HD) is a rare progressive neurodegenerative disorder of genetic origin, with no definitive treatment. Unintentional weight loss (UWL) is a clinical feature of symptomatic HD subjects. To prevent UWL, a customized HD diet is designed and its impact on plasma miRNA HD footprint and neurological parameters is examined. Methods and results Eleven participants are included, BMI ≤ 18 kg m–2 or UWL of 5% in 6 months or 10% in a year. Diet design is based on nutritional surveys and interviews of participants and caregivers and on published literature review. Twelve‐month dietary intervention, with follow‐up every 3 months, induces high diet adherence, which manages to curb UWL in all participants (73% gained weight). Noticeable increases in fat mass and leptin levels are obtained. The results also show significant decrease in the expression of 19 miRNAs, which are previously reported to be upregulated in HD‐patients versus healthy controls: revealing hsa‐miR‐338‐3p, hsa‐miR‐128‐3p, hsa‐miR‐23a‐3p, and hsa‐miR‐24‐3p as potential HD‐biomarkers. The diminished expression of hsa‐miR‐100‐5p reflects the general maintenance of the functional status. Cognitive status is improved in six of 11 participants, while only three present better motor‐score values. Conclusion A customized HD‐diet prevents UWL and modified miRNAs HD‐footprint. The normalization of miRNA values suggests its potentially use as HD‐biomarkers. In 11 diagnosed Huntington's disease (HD) patients with symptoms, a year of customized dietary intervention induces: A) high diet adherence, which managed to curb unintentional weight loss in all participants; B) significantly modified the miRNA footprint of the disorder, leading the system to normalization; and C) general maintenance of neurological parameters.