Micronutrients in relation to cardiometabolic risk factors among middle-aged and older Chinese adults: protocol for an exploratory longitudinal panel study with multi-omics profiling.

The escalating prevalence of cardiometabolic risk factors (CRFs) contributes to increased risks of cardiometabolic diseases. Micronutrients, essential for nearly all physiological functions, have been widely linked to CRFs. However, the joint associations of micronutrient mixtures with CRFs, as well as the potential biological pathways remain incompletely understood. To address this gap, this protocol describes the rationale and design of a longitudinal panel study, which included 205 adults with four repeated seasonal visits in Hefeng County, Enshi Prefecture, Hubei province, China. This project aimed to (1) evaluate the individual and joint associations of biomarker-based micronutrient profiles with CRFs; (2) characterize biological samples using multi-omics approaches to explore candidate biomarkers and potential pathways linking micronutrient profiles with cardiometabolic risk. The planned analyses are expected to help identify relationship of micronutrient profiles with altered biological effects and cardiometabolic diseases risk, and provide a framework for future validation studies and precision nutrition research.