Physical Activity-Related Metabolites Are Associated with Mortality: Findings from the Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities (ARIC) Study.

Habitual physical activity can diminish the risk of premature death. Identifying a pattern of metabolites related to physical activity may advance our understanding of disease etiology. We quantified 245 serum metabolites in 3802 participants from the Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities (ARIC) study using chromatography-mass spectrometry. We regressed self-reported moderate-to-vigorous intensity leisure-time physical activity (LTPA) against each metabolite, adjusting for traditional risk factors. A standardized metabolite risk score (MRS) was constructed to examine its association with all-cause mortality using the Cox proportional hazard model. We identified 10 metabolites associated with LTPA (