Publications
118 results found
Kragsnaes MS, Miguens Blanco J, Mullish BH, et al., 2023, Small intestinal permeability and metabolomic profiles in feces and plasma associate with clinical response in patients with active psoriatic arthritis participating in a fecal microbiota transplantation trial: exploratory findings from the FLORA trial, ACR Open Rheumatology, Vol: 5, Pages: 583-593, ISSN: 2578-5745
ObjectiveWe investigated intestinal permeability and fecal, plasma, and urine metabolomic profiles in methotrexate-treated active psoriatic arthritis (PsA) and how this related to clinical response following one sham or fecal microbiota transplantation (FMT).MethodsThis exploratory study is based on the FLORA trial cohort, in which 31 patients with moderate-to-high peripheral PsA disease activity, despite at least 3 months of methotrexate-treatment, were included in a 26-week, double-blind, 1:1 randomized, sham-controlled trial. Participants were randomly allocated to receive either one healthy donor FMT (n = 15) or sham (n = 16) via gastroscopy. The primary trial end point was the proportion of treatment failures through 26 weeks. We performed a lactulose-to-mannitol ratio (LMR) test at baseline (n = 31) and at week 26 (n = 26) to assess small intestinal permeability. Metabolomic profiles in fecal, plasma, and urine samples collected at baseline, weeks 4, 12, and 26 were measured using 1H Nuclear Magnetic Resonance.ResultsTrial failures (n = 7) had significantly higher LMR compared with responders (n = 19) at week 26 (0.027 [0.017-0.33]) vs. 0.012 [0-0.064], P = 0.013), indicating increased intestinal permeability. Multivariate analysis revealed a significant model for responders (n = 19) versus failures (n = 12) at all time points based on their fecal (P < 0.0001) and plasma (P = 0.005) metabolomic profiles, whereas urine metabolomic profiles did not differ between groups (P = 1). Fecal N-acetyl glycoprotein GlycA correlated with Health Assessment Questionnaire Disability Index (coefficient = 0.50; P = 0.03) and fecal propionate correlated with American College of Rheumatology 20 response at week 26 (coefficient = 27, P = 0.02).ConclusionIntestinal permeability and fecal and plasma metabolomic profiles of patients with PsA were associated with the primary clinical trial end point, failure versus responder.
Kowalka AM, Alexiadou K, Cuenco J, et al., 2023, The postprandial secretion of peptide YY<sub>1-36</sub> and <sub>3-36</sub> in obesity is differentially increased after gastric bypass versus sleeve gastrectomy, CLINICAL ENDOCRINOLOGY, Vol: 99, Pages: 272-284, ISSN: 0300-0664
- Author Web Link
- Cite
- Citations: 4
Kowalka AMM, Alexiadou K, Cuenco J, et al., 2023, Commentary on "The road to reliable peptide assays is paved with good guidelines", CLINICAL ENDOCRINOLOGY, Vol: 98, Pages: 763-765, ISSN: 0300-0664
Alexander J, Posma J, Scott A, et al., 2023, Pathobionts in the tumour microbiota predict survival following resection for colorectal cancer, Microbiome, Vol: 11, Pages: 1-14, ISSN: 2049-2618
Background and aimsThe gut microbiota is implicated in the pathogenesis of colorectal cancer (CRC). We aimed to map the CRC mucosal microbiota and metabolome and define the influence of the tumoral microbiota on oncological outcomes.MethodsA multicentre, prospective observational study was conducted of CRC patients undergoing primary surgical resection in the UK (n = 74) and Czech Republic (n = 61). Analysis was performed using metataxonomics, ultra-performance liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (UPLC-MS), targeted bacterial qPCR and tumour exome sequencing. Hierarchical clustering accounting for clinical and oncological covariates was performed to identify clusters of bacteria and metabolites linked to CRC. Cox proportional hazards regression was used to ascertain clusters associated with disease-free survival over median follow-up of 50 months.ResultsThirteen mucosal microbiota clusters were identified, of which five were significantly different between tumour and paired normal mucosa. Cluster 7, containing the pathobionts Fusobacterium nucleatum and Granulicatella adiacens, was strongly associated with CRC (PFDR = 0.0002). Additionally, tumoral dominance of cluster 7 independently predicted favourable disease-free survival (adjusted p = 0.031). Cluster 1, containing Faecalibacterium prausnitzii and Ruminococcus gnavus, was negatively associated with cancer (PFDR = 0.0009), and abundance was independently predictive of worse disease-free survival (adjusted p = 0.0009). UPLC-MS analysis revealed two major metabolic (Met) clusters. Met 1, composed of medium chain (MCFA), long-chain (LCFA) and very long-chain (VLCFA) fatty acid species, ceramides and lysophospholipids, was negatively associated with CRC (PFDR = 2.61 × 10−11); Met 2, composed of phosphatidylcholine species, nucleosides and amino acids, was strongly associated with CRC (PFDR&
Sarmad S, Viant MR, Dunn WB, et al., 2023, A proposed framework to evaluate the quality and reliability of targeted metabolomics assays from the UK Consortium on Metabolic Phenotyping (MAP/UK), NATURE PROTOCOLS, Vol: 18, Pages: 1017-1027, ISSN: 1754-2189
Goldswain H, Dong X, Penrice-Randal R, et al., 2023, The P323L substitution in the SARS-CoV-2 polymerase (NSP12) confers a selective advantage during infection, Genome Biology, Vol: 24, ISSN: 1474-7596
BACKGROUND: The mutational landscape of SARS-CoV-2 varies at the dominant viral genome sequence and minor genomic variant population. During the COVID-19 pandemic, an early substitution in the genome was the D614G change in the spike protein, associated with an increase in transmissibility. Genomes with D614G are accompanied by a P323L substitution in the viral polymerase (NSP12). However, P323L is not thought to be under strong selective pressure. RESULTS: Investigation of P323L/D614G substitutions in the population shows rapid emergence during the containment phase and early surge phase during the first wave. These substitutions emerge from minor genomic variants which become dominant viral genome sequence. This is investigated in vivo and in vitro using SARS-CoV-2 with P323 and D614 in the dominant genome sequence and L323 and G614 in the minor variant population. During infection, there is rapid selection of L323 into the dominant viral genome sequence but not G614. Reverse genetics is used to create two viruses (either P323 or L323) with the same genetic background. L323 shows greater abundance of viral RNA and proteins and a smaller plaque morphology than P323. CONCLUSIONS: These data suggest that P323L is an important contribution in the emergence of variants with transmission advantages. Sequence analysis of viral populations suggests it may be possible to predict the emergence of a new variant based on tracking the frequency of minor variant genomes. The ability to predict an emerging variant of SARS-CoV-2 in the global landscape may aid in the evaluation of medical countermeasures and non-pharmaceutical interventions.
Stebbing J, Takis PG, Sands CJ, et al., 2023, Comparison of phenomics and cfDNA in a large breast screening population: the Breast Screening and Monitoring Study (BSMS), Oncogene, Vol: 42, Pages: 825-832, ISSN: 0950-9232
To assess their roles in breast cancer diagnostics, we aimed to compare plasma cell-free DNA (cfDNA) levels with the circulating metabolome in a large breast screening cohort of women recalled for mammography, including healthy women and women with mammographically detected breast diseases, ductal carcinoma in situ and invasive breast cancer: the Breast Screening and Monitoring Study (BSMS). In 999 women, plasma was analyzed by nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) and Ultra-Performance Liquid Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry (UPLC-MS) and then processed to isolate and quantify total cfDNA. NMR and UPLC-MS results were compared with data for 186 healthy women derived from the AIRWAVE cohort. Results showed no significant differences between groups for all metabolites, whereas invasive cancers had significantly higher plasma cfDNA levels than all other groups. When stratified the supervised OPLS-DA analysis and total cfDNA concentration showed high discrimination accuracy between invasive cancers and the disease/medication-free subjects. Furthermore, comparison of OPLS-DA data for invasive breast cancers with the AIRWAVE cohort showed similar discrimination between breast cancers and healthy controls. This is the first report of agreement between metabolomics and plasma cfDNA levels for discriminating breast cancer from healthy subjects in a true screening population. It also emphasizes the importance of sample standardization. Follow on studies will involve analysis of candidate features in a larger validation series as well as comparing results with serial plasma samples taken at the next routine screening mammography appointment. The findings here help establish the role of plasma analysis in the diagnosis of breast cancer in a large real-world cohort.
Alexander JL, Mullish BH, Danckert NP, et al., 2023, The gut microbiota and metabolome are associated with diminished COVID-19 vaccine-induced antibody responses in immunosuppressed inflammatory bowel disease patients, EBioMedicine, Vol: 88, ISSN: 2352-3964
Background:Patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) treated with anti-TNF therapy exhibit attenuated humoral immune responses to vaccination against SARS-CoV-2. The gut microbiota and its functional metabolic output, which are perturbed in IBD, play an important role in shaping host immune responses. We explored whether the gut microbiota and metabolome could explain variation in anti-SARS-CoV-2 vaccination responses in immunosuppressed IBD patients.Methods:Faecal and serum samples were prospectively collected from infliximab-treated patients with IBD in the CLARITY-IBD study undergoing vaccination against SARS-CoV-2. Antibody responses were measured following two doses of either ChAdOx1 nCoV-19 or BNT162b2 vaccine. Patients were classified as having responses above or below the geometric mean of the wider CLARITY-IBD cohort. 16S rRNA gene amplicon sequencing, nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy and bile acid profiling with ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography mass spectrometry (UHPLC-MS) were performed on faecal samples. Univariate, multivariable and correlation analyses were performed to determine gut microbial and metabolomic predictors of response to vaccination.Findings:Forty-three infliximab-treated patients with IBD were recruited (30 Crohn's disease, 12 ulcerative colitis, 1 IBD-unclassified; 26 with concomitant thiopurine therapy). Eight patients had evidence of prior SARS-CoV-2 infection. Seventeen patients (39.5%) had a serological response below the geometric mean. Gut microbiota diversity was lower in below average responders (p = 0.037). Bilophila abundance was associated with better serological response, while Streptococcus was associated with poorer response. The faecal metabolome was distinct between above and below average responders (OPLS-DA R2X 0.25, R2Y 0.26, Q2 0.15; CV-ANOVA p = 0.038). Trimethylamine, isobutyrate and omega-muricholic acid were associated with better response, while succinate, phenylalanine, taurolithoc
Lu H, George J, Eslam M, et al., 2023, Discriminatory changes in circulating metabolites as a predictor of hepatocellular cancer in patients with MAFLD, Liver Cancer, Vol: 12, Pages: 19-31, ISSN: 2235-1795
Introduction: The burden of metabolic (dysfunction) associated fatty liver disease (MAFLD) is rising mirrored by an increase in hepatocellular cancer (HCC). MAFLD and its sequelae are characterized by perturbations in lipid handling, inflammation, and mitochondrial damage. The profile of circulating lipid and small molecule metabolites with the development of HCC is poorly characterized in MAFLD and could be used in future studies as a biomarker for HCC. Methods: We assessed the profile of 273 lipid and small molecule metabolites by ultra-performance liquid chromatography coupled to high-resolution mass spectrometry in serum from patients with MAFLD (n = 113) and MAFLD-associated HCC (n = 144) from six different centers. Regression models were used to identify a predictive model of HCC. Results: Twenty lipid species and one metabolite, reflecting changes in mitochondrial function and sphingolipid metabolism, were associated with the presence of cancer on a background of MAFLD with high accuracy (AUC 0.789, 95% CI: 0.721–0.858), which was enhanced with the addition of cirrhosis to the model (AUC 0.855, 95% CI: 0.793–0.917). In particular, the presence of these metabolites was associated with cirrhosis in the MAFLD subgroup (p < 0.001). When considering the HCC cohort alone, the metabolic signature was an independent predictor of overall survival (HR 1.42, 95% CI: 1.09–1.83, p < 0.01). Conclusion: These exploratory findings reveal a metabolic signature in serum which is capable of accurately detecting the presence of HCC on a background of MAFLD. This unique serum signature will be taken forward for further investigation of diagnostic performance as biomarker of early stage HCC in patients with MAFLD in the future.
Augustin A, Le Guennec A, Umamahesan C, et al., 2023, Faecal metabolite deficit, gut inflammation and diet in Parkinson’s disease: integrative analysis indicates inflammatory response syndrome, Clinical and Translational Medicine, Vol: 13, ISSN: 2001-1326
Background:Gut-brain axis is widely implicated in the pathophysiology of Parkinson's disease (PD). We take an integrated approach to considering the gut as a target for disease-modifying intervention, using continuous measurements of disease facets irrespective of diagnostic divide.Methods:We characterised 77 participants with diagnosed-PD, 113 without, by dietary/exogenous substance intake, faecal metabolome, intestinal inflammation, serum cytokines/chemokines, clinical phenotype including colonic transit time. Complete-linkage hierarchical cluster analysis of metabolites discriminant for PD-status was performed.Results:Longer colonic transit was linked to deficits in faecal short-chain-fatty acids outside PD, to a ‘tryptophan-containing metabolite cluster’ overall. Phenotypic cluster analysis aggregated colonic transit with brady/hypokinesia, tremor, sleep disorder and dysosmia, each individually associated with tryptophan-cluster deficit. Overall, a faster pulse was associated with deficits in a metabolite cluster including benzoic acid and an imidazole-ring compound (anti-fungals) and vitamin B3 (anti-inflammatory) and with higher serum CCL20 (chemotactic for lymphocytes/dendritic cells towards mucosal epithelium). The faster pulse in PD was irrespective of postural hypotension. The benzoic acid-cluster deficit was linked to (well-recognised) lower caffeine and alcohol intakes, tryptophan-cluster deficit to higher maltose intake. Free-sugar intake was increased in PD, maltose intake being 63% higher (p = .001). Faecal calprotectin was 44% (95% CI 5%, 98%) greater in PD [p = .001, adjusted for proton-pump inhibitors (p = .001)], with 16% of PD-probands exceeding a cut-point for clinically significant inflammation compatible with inflammatory bowel disease. Higher maltose intake was associated with exceeding this calprotectin cut-point.Conclusions:Emerging picture is of (i) clinical phenotype being described by deficits in microbial metabolites essenti
Mullish BH, Martinez Gili L, Chekmeneva E, et al., 2022, Assessing the clinical value of faecal bile acid profiling to predict recurrence in primary Clostridioides difficile infection, Alimentary Pharmacology and Therapeutics, Vol: 56, Pages: 1556-1569, ISSN: 0269-2813
Background:Factors influencing recurrence risk in primary Clostridioides difficile infection (CDI) are poorly understood, and tools predicting recurrence are lacking. Perturbations in bile acids (BAs) contribute to CDI pathogenesis and may be relevant to primary disease prognosis.Aims:To define stool BA dynamics in patients with primary CDI and explore signatures predicting recurrenceMethodsWeekly stool samples were collected from patients with primary CDI from the last day of anti-CDI therapy until recurrence or, otherwise, through 8 weeks post-completion. Ultra-high performance liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry was used to profile BAs; stool bile salt hydrolase (BSH) activity was measured to determine primary BA bacterial deconjugation capacity. Multivariate and univariate models were used to define differential BA trajectories in patients with recurrence versus those without, and to assess faecal BAs as predictive markers for recurrence.Results:Twenty (36%) of 56 patients (median age: 57, 64% male) had recurrence; 80% of recurrences occurred within the first 9 days post-antibiotic treatment. Principal component analysis of stool BA profiles demonstrated clustering by recurrence status and post-treatment timepoint. Longitudinal faecal BA trajectories showed recovery of secondary BAs and their derivatives only in patients without recurrence. BSH activity increased over time only among non-relapsing patients (β = 0.056; likelihood ratio test p = 0.018). A joint longitudinal-survival model identified five stool BAs with area under the receiver operating characteristic curve >0.73 for predicting recurrence within 9 days post-CDI treatment.Conclusions:Gut BA metabolism dynamics differ in primary CDI patients between those developing recurrence and those who do not. Individual BAs show promise as potential novel biomarkers to predict CDI recurrence.
Valdivia-Garcia MA, Chappell KE, Camuzeaux S, et al., 2022, Improved quantitation of short-chain carboxylic acids in human biofluids using 3-nitrophenylhydrazine derivatization and liquid chromatography with tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS), JOURNAL OF PHARMACEUTICAL AND BIOMEDICAL ANALYSIS, Vol: 221, ISSN: 0731-7085
- Author Web Link
- Cite
- Citations: 3
Gadgil MD, Kanaya AM, Sands C, et al., 2022, Diet Patterns Are Associated with Circulating Metabolites and Lipid Profiles of South Asians in the United States, JOURNAL OF NUTRITION, Vol: 152, Pages: 2358-2366, ISSN: 0022-3166
- Author Web Link
- Cite
- Citations: 2
Vink E, Davis C, MacLean A, et al., 2022, Viral coinfections in hospitalized Coronavirus disease 2019 patients recruited to the international severe acute respiratory and emerging infections consortium WHO clinical characterisation protocol UK study, Open Forum Infectious Diseases, Vol: 9, Pages: 1-10, ISSN: 2328-8957
BackgroundWe conducted this study to assess the prevalence of viral coinfection in a well characterized cohort of hospitalized coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) patients and to investigate the impact of coinfection on disease severity.MethodsMultiplex real-time polymerase chain reaction testing for endemic respiratory viruses was performed on upper respiratory tract samples from 1002 patients with COVID-19, aged <1 year to 102 years old, recruited to the International Severe Acute Respiratory and Emerging Infections Consortium WHO Clinical Characterisation Protocol UK study. Comprehensive demographic, clinical, and outcome data were collected prospectively up to 28 days post discharge.ResultsA coinfecting virus was detected in 20 (2.0%) participants. Multivariable analysis revealed no significant risk factors for coinfection, although this may be due to rarity of coinfection. Likewise, ordinal logistic regression analysis did not demonstrate a significant association between coinfection and increased disease severity.ConclusionsViral coinfection was rare among hospitalized COVID-19 patients in the United Kingdom during the first 18 months of the pandemic. With unbiased prospective sampling, we found no evidence of an association between viral coinfection and disease severity. Public health interventions disrupted normal seasonal transmission of respiratory viruses; relaxation of these measures mean it will be important to monitor the prevalence and impact of respiratory viral coinfections going forward.
Gadgil MD, Kanaya AM, Sands C, et al., 2022, Diet Patterns Are Associated with Circulating Metabolites and Lipid Profiles of South Asians in the United States., J Nutr, Vol: 152, Pages: 2358-2366
BACKGROUND: South Asians are at higher risk for cardiometabolic disease than many other racial/ethnic minority groups. Diet patterns in US South Asians have unique components associated with cardiometabolic disease. OBJECTIVES: We aimed to characterize the metabolites associated with 3 representative diet patterns. METHODS: We included 722 participants in the Mediators of Atherosclerosis in South Asians Living in America (MASALA) cohort study aged 40-84 y without known cardiovascular disease. Fasting serum specimens and diet and demographic questionnaires were collected at baseline and diet patterns previously generated through principal components analysis. LC-MS-based untargeted metabolomic and lipidomic analysis was conducted with targeted integration of known metabolite and lipid signals. Linear regression models of diet pattern factor score and log-transformed metabolites adjusted for age, sex, caloric intake, and BMI and adjusted for multiple comparisons were performed, followed by elastic net linear regression of significant metabolites. RESULTS: There were 443 metabolites of known identity extracted from the profiling data. The "animal protein" diet pattern was associated with 61 metabolites and lipids, including glycerophospholipids phosphatidylethanolamine PE(O-16:1/20:4) and/or PE(P-16:0/20:4) (β: 0.13; 95% CI: 0.11, 0.14) and N-acyl phosphatidylethanolamines (NAPEs) NAPE(O-18:1/20:4/18:0) and/or NAPE(P-18:0/20:4/18:0) (β: 0.13; 95% CI: 0.11, 0.14), lysophosphatidylinositol (LPI) (22:6/0:0) (β: 0.14; 95% CI: 0.12, 0.17), and fatty acid (FA) (22:6) (β: 0.15; 95% CI: 0.13, 0.17). The "fried snacks, sweets, high-fat dairy" pattern was associated with 12 lipids, including PC(16:0/22:6) (β: -0.08; 95% CI: -0.09, -0.06) and FA (22:6) (β: 0.14; 95% CI: -0.17, -0.10). The "fruits, vegetables, nuts, and legumes" pattern was associated with 5 metabolites including proline betaine (β: 0.17; 95% CI: 0.0
Dehghan A, Pinto RC, Karaman I, et al., 2022, Metabolome-wide association study on ABCA7 indicates a role of ceramide metabolism in Alzheimer's disease., Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of USA, Vol: 119, Pages: 1-12, ISSN: 0027-8424
Genome-wide association studies (GWASs) have identified genetic loci associated with the risk of Alzheimer's disease (AD), but the molecular mechanisms by which they confer risk are largely unknown. We conducted a metabolome-wide association study (MWAS) of AD-associated loci from GWASs using untargeted metabolic profiling (metabolomics) by ultraperformance liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (UPLC-MS). We identified an association of lactosylceramides (LacCer) with AD-related single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in ABCA7 (P = 5.0 × 10-5 to 1.3 × 10-44). We showed that plasma LacCer concentrations are associated with cognitive performance and genetically modified levels of LacCer are associated with AD risk. We then showed that concentrations of sphingomyelins, ceramides, and hexosylceramides were altered in brain tissue from Abca7 knockout mice, compared with wild type (WT) (P = 0.049-1.4 × 10-5), but not in a mouse model of amyloidosis. Furthermore, activation of microglia increases intracellular concentrations of hexosylceramides in part through induction in the expression of sphingosine kinase, an enzyme with a high control coefficient for sphingolipid and ceramide synthesis. Our work suggests that the risk for AD arising from functional variations in ABCA7 is mediated at least in part through ceramides. Modulation of their metabolism or downstream signaling may offer new therapeutic opportunities for AD.
Takis PG, Vuckovic I, Tan T, et al., 2022, NMRpQuant: an automated software for large scale urinary total protein quantification by one-dimensional 1H NMR profiles, Bioinformatics, Vol: 38, Pages: 4437-4439, ISSN: 1367-4803
Summary1H nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy is an established bioanalytical technology for metabolic profiling of biofluids in both clinical and large-scale population screening applications. Recently, urinary protein quantification has been demonstrated using the same 1D 1H NMR experimental data captured for metabolic profiling. Here, we introduce NMRpQuant, a freely available platform that builds on these findings with both novel and further optimized computational NMR approaches for rigorous, automated protein urine quantification. The results are validated by interlaboratory comparisons, demonstrating agreement with clinical/biochemical methodologies, pointing at a ready-to-use tool for routine protein urinalyses.Availability and implementationNMRpQuant was developed on MATLAB programming environment. Source code and Windows/macOS compiled applications are available at https://github.com/pantakis/NMRpQuant, and working examples are available at https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.18737189.v1.
Harshfield EL, Sands CJ, Tuladhar AM, et al., 2022, Metabolomic profiling in small vessel disease identifies multiple associations with disease severity, BRAIN, Vol: 145, Pages: 2461-2471, ISSN: 0006-8950
- Author Web Link
- Cite
- Citations: 6
Kragsnaes MS, Blanco JM, Chekmeneva E, et al., 2022, INCREASED INTESTINAL PERMEABILITY IN PATIENTS WITH PSORIATIC ARTHRITIS CLASSIFIED AS TREATMENT FAILURES DURING THE 26-WEEK FLORA TRIAL, Publisher: BMJ PUBLISHING GROUP, Pages: 868-868, ISSN: 0003-4967
Alexander J, Mullish B, Danckert N, et al., 2022, COVID-19 VACCINATION RESPONSE IN IMMUNOSUPPRESSED PATIENTS WITH IBD IS ASSOCIATED WITH ALTERED GUT MICROBIOTA FUNCTION, Publisher: BMJ PUBLISHING GROUP, Pages: A36-A36, ISSN: 0017-5749
Wilshaw J, Boswood A, Chang YM, et al., 2022, Evidence of altered fatty acid metabolism in dogs with naturally occurring valvular heart disease and congestive heart failure, Metabolomics, Vol: 18, ISSN: 1573-3882
IntroductionMyxomatous mitral valve disease (MMVD) is the most common cardiac condition in adult dogs. The disease progresses over several years and affected dogs may develop congestive heart failure (HF). Research has shown that myocardial metabolism is altered in cardiac disease, leading to a reduction in β-oxidation of fatty acids and an increased dependence upon glycolysis.ObjectivesThis study aimed to evaluate whether a shift in substrate use occurs in canine patients with MMVD; a naturally occurring model of human disease.MethodsClient-owned dogs were longitudinally evaluated at a research clinic in London, UK and paired serum samples were selected from visits when patients were in ACVIM stage B1: asymptomatic disease without cardiomegaly, and stage C: HF. Samples were processed using ultra-performance liquid chromatography mass spectrometry and lipid profiles were compared using mixed effects models with false discovery rate adjustment. The effect of disease stage was evaluated with patient breed entered as a confounder. Features that significantly differed were screened for selection for annotation efforts using reference databases.ResultsDogs in HF had altered concentrations of lipid species belonging to several classes previously associated with cardiovascular disease. Concentrations of certain acylcarnitines, phospholipids and sphingomyelins were increased after individuals had developed HF, whilst some ceramides and lysophosphatidylcholines decreased.ConclusionsThe canine metabolome appears to change as MMVD progresses. Findings from this study suggest that in HF myocardial metabolism may be characterised by reduced β-oxidation. This proposed explanation warrants further research.
Correia GDS, Takis PG, Sands CJ, et al., 2022, 1H NMR Signals from urine excreted protein are a source of bias in probabilistic quotient normalization, Analytical Chemistry, Vol: 94, Pages: 6919-6923, ISSN: 0003-2700
Normalization to account for variation in urinary dilution is crucial for interpretation of urine metabolic profiles. Probabilistic quotient normalization (PQN) is used routinely in metabolomics but is sensitive to systematic variation shared across a large proportion of the spectral profile (>50%). Where 1H nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy is employed, the presence of urinary protein can elevate the spectral baseline and substantially impact the resulting profile. Using 1H NMR profile measurements of spot urine samples collected from hospitalized COVID-19 patients in the ISARIC 4C study, we determined that PQN coefficients are significantly correlated with observed protein levels (r2 = 0.423, p < 2.2 × 10–16). This correlation was significantly reduced (r2 = 0.163, p < 2.2 × 10–16) when using a computational method for suppression of macromolecular signals known as small molecule enhancement spectroscopy (SMolESY) for proteinic baseline removal prior to PQN. These results highlight proteinuria as a common yet overlooked source of bias in 1H NMR metabolic profiling studies which can be effectively mitigated using SMolESY or other macromolecular signal suppression methods before estimation of normalization coefficients.
Alexander JL, Mullish BH, Danckert NP, et al., 2022, POOR RESPONSE TO ANTI-SARS-COV-2 VACCINATION IN IMMUNOSUPPRESSED INFLAMMATORY BOWEL DISEASE PATIENTS IS ASSOCIATED WITH ALTERED GUT MICROBIOTA FUNCTION, GASTROENTEROLOGY, Vol: 162, Pages: S653-S653, ISSN: 0016-5085
Inglese P, Huang HX, Wu V, et al., 2022, Mass recalibration for desorption electrospray ionization mass spectrometry imaging using endogenous reference ions, BMC Bioinformatics, Vol: 23, Pages: 1-17, ISSN: 1471-2105
BackgroundMass spectrometry imaging (MSI) data often consist of tens of thousands of mass spectra collected from a sample surface. During the time necessary to perform a single acquisition, it is likely that uncontrollable factors alter the validity of the initial mass calibration of the instrument, resulting in mass errors of magnitude significantly larger than their theoretical values. This phenomenon has a two-fold detrimental effect: (a) it reduces the ability to interpret the results based on the observed signals, (b) it can affect the quality of the observed signal spatial distributions.ResultsWe present a post-acquisition computational method capable of reducing the observed mass drift by up to 60 ppm in biological samples, exploiting the presence of typical molecules with a known mass-to-charge ratio. The procedure, tested on time-of-flight and Orbitrap mass spectrometry analyzers interfaced to a desorption electrospray ionization (DESI) source, improves the molecular annotation quality and the spatial distributions of the detected ions.ConclusionThe presented method represents a robust and accurate tool for performing post-acquisition mass recalibration of DESI-MSI datasets and can help to increase the reliability of the molecular assignment and the data quality.
Climaco Pinto R, Karaman I, Lewis MR, et al., 2022, Finding correspondence between metabolomic features in untargeted liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry metabolomics datasets., Analytical Chemistry, Vol: 94, Pages: 5493-5503, ISSN: 0003-2700
Integration of multiple datasets can greatly enhance bioanalytical studies, for example, by increasing power to discover and validate biomarkers. In liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS) metabolomics, it is especially hard to combine untargeted datasets since the majority of metabolomic features are not annotated and thus cannot be matched by chemical identity. Typically, the information available for each feature is retention time (RT), mass-to-charge ratio (m/z), and feature intensity (FI). Pairs of features from the same metabolite in separate datasets can exhibit small but significant differences, making matching very challenging. Current methods to address this issue are too simple or rely on assumptions that cannot be met in all cases. We present a method to find feature correspondence between two similar LC-MS metabolomics experiments or batches using only the features' RT, m/z, and FI. We demonstrate the method on both real and synthetic datasets, using six orthogonal validation strategies to gauge the matching quality. In our main example, 4953 features were uniquely matched, of which 585 (96.8%) of 604 manually annotated features were correct. In a second example, 2324 features could be uniquely matched, with 79 (90.8%) out of 87 annotated features correctly matched. Most of the missed annotated matches are between features that behave very differently from modeled inter-dataset shifts of RT, MZ, and FI. In a third example with simulated data with 4755 features per dataset, 99.6% of the matches were correct. Finally, the results of matching three other dataset pairs using our method are compared with a published alternative method, metabCombiner, showing the advantages of our approach. The method can be applied using M2S (Match 2 Sets), a free, open-source MATLAB toolbox, available at https://github.com/rjdossan/M2S.
Lippa KA, Aristizabal-Henao JJ, Beger RD, et al., 2022, Reference materials for MS-based untargeted metabolomics and lipidomics: a review by the metabolomics quality assurance and quality control consortium (mQACC), Metabolomics, Vol: 18, ISSN: 1573-3882
IntroductionThe metabolomics quality assurance and quality control consortium (mQACC) is enabling the identification, development, prioritization, and promotion of suitable reference materials (RMs) to be used in quality assurance (QA) and quality control (QC) for untargeted metabolomics research.ObjectivesThis review aims to highlight current RMs, and methodologies used within untargeted metabolomics and lipidomics communities to ensure standardization of results obtained from data analysis, interpretation and cross-study, and cross-laboratory comparisons. The essence of the aims is also applicable to other ‘omics areas that generate high dimensional data.ResultsThe potential for game-changing biochemical discoveries through mass spectrometry-based (MS) untargeted metabolomics and lipidomics are predicated on the evolution of more confident qualitative (and eventually quantitative) results from research laboratories. RMs are thus critical QC tools to be able to assure standardization, comparability, repeatability and reproducibility for untargeted data analysis, interpretation, to compare data within and across studies and across multiple laboratories. Standard operating procedures (SOPs) that promote, describe and exemplify the use of RMs will also improve QC for the metabolomics and lipidomics communities.ConclusionsThe application of RMs described in this review may significantly improve data quality to support metabolomics and lipidomics research. The continued development and deployment of new RMs, together with interlaboratory studies and educational outreach and training, will further promote sound QA practices in the community.
Sliz E, Shin J, Ahmad S, et al., 2022, Circulating metabolome and white matter hyperintensities in women and men, Circulation, Vol: 145, Pages: 1040-1052, ISSN: 0009-7322
Background:White matter hyperintensities (WMH), identified on T2-weighted magnetic resonance images of the human brain as areas of enhanced brightness, are a major risk factor of stroke, dementia, and death. There are no large-scale studies testing associations between WMH and circulating metabolites.Methods:We studied up to 9290 individuals (50.7% female, average age 61 years) from 15 populations of 8 community-based cohorts. WMH volume was quantified from T2-weighted or fluid-attenuated inversion recovery images or as hypointensities on T1-weighted images. Circulating metabolomic measures were assessed with mass spectrometry and nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy. Associations between WMH and metabolomic measures were tested by fitting linear regression models in the pooled sample and in sex-stratified and statin treatment–stratified subsamples. Our basic models were adjusted for age, sex, age×sex, and technical covariates, and our fully adjusted models were also adjusted for statin treatment, hypertension, type 2 diabetes, smoking, body mass index, and estimated glomerular filtration rate. Population-specific results were meta-analyzed using the fixed-effect inverse variance–weighted method. Associations with false discovery rate (FDR)–adjusted P values (PFDR)<0.05 were considered significant.Results:In the meta-analysis of results from the basic models, we identified 30 metabolomic measures associated with WMH (PFDR<0.05), 7 of which remained significant in the fully adjusted models. The most significant association was with higher level of hydroxyphenylpyruvate in men (PFDR.full.adj=1.40×10−7) and in both the pooled sample (PFDR.full.adj=1.66×10−4) and statin-untreated (PFDR.full.adj=1.65×10−6) subsample. In men, hydroxyphenylpyruvate explained 3% to 14% of variance in WMH. In men and the pooled sample, WMH were also associated with lower levels of lysophosphatidylcholines and hydroxysphingo
Gadgil MD, Sarkar M, Sands C, et al., 2022, Associations of NAFLD with circulating ceramides and impaired glycemia, DIABETES RESEARCH AND CLINICAL PRACTICE, Vol: 186, ISSN: 0168-8227
- Author Web Link
- Cite
- Citations: 4
Närhi F, Moonesinghe SR, Shenkin SD, et al., 2022, Implementation of corticosteroids in treatment of COVID-19 in the ISARIC WHO Clinical Characterisation Protocol UK: prospective, cohort study., The Lancet Digital Health, Vol: 4, Pages: e220-e234, ISSN: 2589-7500
BACKGROUND: Dexamethasone was the first intervention proven to reduce mortality in patients with COVID-19 being treated in hospital. We aimed to evaluate the adoption of corticosteroids in the treatment of COVID-19 in the UK after the RECOVERY trial publication on June 16, 2020, and to identify discrepancies in care. METHODS: We did an audit of clinical implementation of corticosteroids in a prospective, observational, cohort study in 237 UK acute care hospitals between March 16, 2020, and April 14, 2021, restricted to patients aged 18 years or older with proven or high likelihood of COVID-19, who received supplementary oxygen. The primary outcome was administration of dexamethasone, prednisolone, hydrocortisone, or methylprednisolone. This study is registered with ISRCTN, ISRCTN66726260. FINDINGS: Between June 17, 2020, and April 14, 2021, 47 795 (75·2%) of 63 525 of patients on supplementary oxygen received corticosteroids, higher among patients requiring critical care than in those who received ward care (11 185 [86·6%] of 12 909 vs 36 415 [72·4%] of 50 278). Patients 50 years or older were significantly less likely to receive corticosteroids than those younger than 50 years (adjusted odds ratio 0·79 [95% CI 0·70-0·89], p=0·0001, for 70-79 years; 0·52 [0·46-0·58], p<0·0001, for >80 years), independent of patient demographics and illness severity. 84 (54·2%) of 155 pregnant women received corticosteroids. Rates of corticosteroid administration increased from 27·5% in the week before June 16, 2020, to 75-80% in January, 2021. INTERPRETATION: Implementation of corticosteroids into clinical practice in the UK for patients with COVID-19 has been successful, but not universal. Patients older than 70 years, independent of illness severity, chronic neurological disease, and dementia, were less likely to receive corticosteroids than those who were younger, as were pregnant wom
Mehta R, Chekmeneva E, Jackson H, et al., 2022, Antiviral metabolite 3’-Deoxy-3’,4’-didehydro-cytidine is detectable in serum and identifies acute viral infections including COVID-19, Med, Vol: 3, Pages: 204-215.e6, ISSN: 2666-6340
Background:There is a critical need for rapid viral infection diagnostics to enable prompt case identification in pandemic settings and support targeted antimicrobial prescribing.Methods:Using untargeted high-resolution liquid chromatography coupled with mass spectrometry, we compared the admission serum metabolome of emergency department patients with viral infections including COVID-19, bacterial infections, inflammatory conditions, and healthy controls. Sera from an independent cohort of emergency department patients admitted with viral or bacterial infections underwent profiling to validate findings. Associations between whole-blood gene expression and the identified metabolite of interest were examined.Findings:3'-Deoxy-3',4'-didehydro-cytidine (ddhC), a free base of the only known human antiviral small molecule ddhC-triphosphate (ddhCTP), was detected for the first time in serum. When comparing 60 viral to 101 non-viral cases in the discovery cohort, ddhC was the most differentially abundant metabolite, generating an area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC) of 0.954 (95% CI: 0.923-0.986). In the validation cohort, ddhC was again the most significantly differentially abundant metabolite when comparing 40 viral to 40 bacterial cases, generating an AUC of 0.81 (95% CI 0.708-0.915). Transcripts of viperin and CMPK2, enzymes responsible for ddhCTP synthesis, were amongst the five genes most highly correlated to ddhC abundance.Conclusions:The antiviral precursor molecule ddhC is detectable in serum and an accurate marker for acute viral infection. Interferon-inducible genes viperin and CMPK2 are implicated in ddhC production in vivo. These findings highlight a future diagnostic role for ddhC in viral diagnosis, pandemic preparedness, and acute infection management.
This data is extracted from the Web of Science and reproduced under a licence from Thomson Reuters. You may not copy or re-distribute this data in whole or in part without the written consent of the Science business of Thomson Reuters.