The association between metabolite concentrations and wellbeing in adults

The biological complexity of wellbeing is studied from various perspectives, including genetics and epigenetics. However, there is a knowledge gap concerning other layers, such as metabolomics, which is dynamic and changes throughout life. This study explores the association between metabolites and wellbeing in a sample (N = 4748) drawn from the Netherlands Twin Register. A latent factor score for wellbeing was constructed based on: Quality of Life, Life Satisfaction, and Subjective Happiness. A total of 231 blood metabolites were analyzed using ¹HNMR technique. Linear regression models were performed for each metabolite, while correcting for family clustering, relevant covariates, and multiple testing. None of the metabolites were significantly associated with wellbeing after multiple testing correction. Despite the lack of significant findings, the 34 metabolites with the lowest p-value (0.25) pointed to the same metabolic pathway: endogenous lipid metabolism. This pathway has previously been linked to wellbeing in a GWAS and associated with related phenotypes in other metabolomic studies. In conclusion, this study confirms the biological complexity of wellbeing and speculates on a potential role of lipids. Further research is needed to confirm these hypotheses.