Histidine Intake May Negatively Correlate with Energy Intake in Human: A Cross-Sectional Study in Japanese Female Students Aged 18 Years

Abstract

L-Histidine (histidine), a precursor of neuronal histamine, has recently been hypothesized to suppress food intake. The association between dietary histidine and energy intake was examined among 1, 689 Japanese female students of dietetic courses aged 18 y. Nutrient intakes were assessed over a 1-mo period with a validated, self-administered, diet history questionnaire. Both intake of histidine and the ratio of histidine to protein (histidine/ protein) statistically and positively correlated with energy intake. After adjustment for potential non-dietary confounding factors, including body height, body weight, physical activity level, and rate of eating, both the histidine intake and histidine/protein ratio statistically and positively correlated with energy intake (Pearson's correlation coefficient, r=0.62 and 0.12, respectively, p<0.001). Moreover, when protein or protein excluding histidine was additionally included into the covariates in order to minimize the effect of dietary factors and other amino acids, both histidine intake and histidinelprotein ratio turned out to show a statistically negative correlation with energy intake (r=-0.22 and -0.23, respectively, p<0.001). Considering the influence of unavoidable various covariates, we found an inverse association between histidinelprotein ratio and energy intake among the young female Japanese students.