BACKGROUND: We sought to perform a systematic lipid analysis of atherosclerotic plaques using emerging mass spectrometry techniques. METHODS AND RESULTS: A chip-based robotic nanoelectrospray platform interfaced to a triple quadrupole mass spectrometer was adapted to analyze lipids in tissue sections and extracts from human endarterectomy specimens by shotgun lipidomics. Eighteen scans for different lipid classes plus additional scans for fatty acids resulted in the detection of 150 lipid species from 9 different classes of which 24 were detected in endarterectomies only. Further analyses focused on plaques from symptomatic and asymptomatic patients and stable versus unstable regions within the same lesion. Polyunsaturated cholesteryl esters with long-chain fatty acids and certain sphingomyelin species showed the greatest relative enrichment in plaques compared to plasma and formed part of a lipid signature for vulnerable and stable plaque areas in a systems-wide network analysis. In principal component analyses, the combination of lipid species across different classes provided a better separation of stable and unstable areas than individual lipid classes. CONCLUSIONS: This comprehensive analysis of plaque lipids demonstrates the potential of lipidomics for unraveling the lipid heterogeneity within atherosclerotic lesions.
BACKGROUND: We sought to perform a systematic lipid analysis of atherosclerotic plaques using emerging mass spectrometry techniques. METHODS AND RESULTS: A chip-based robotic nanoelectrospray platform interfaced to a triple quadrupole mass spectrometer was adapted to analyze lipids in tissue sections and extracts from human endarterectomy specimens by shotgun lipidomics. Eighteen scans for different lipid classes plus additional scans for fatty acids resulted in the detection of 150 lipid species from 9 different classes of which 24 were detected in endarterectomies only. Further analyses focused on plaques from symptomatic and asymptomatic patients and stable versus unstable regions within the same lesion. Polyunsaturated cholesteryl esters with long-chain fatty acids and certain sphingomyelin species showed the greatest relative enrichment in plaques compared to plasma and formed part of a lipid signature for vulnerable and stable plaque areas in a systems-wide network analysis. In principal component analyses, the combination of lipid species across different classes provided a better separation of stable and unstable areas than individual lipid classes. CONCLUSIONS: This comprehensive analysis of plaque lipids demonstrates the potential of lipidomics for unraveling the lipid heterogeneity within atherosclerotic lesions.
Authors: Farsad Afshinnia; Viji Nair; Jiahe Lin; Thekkelnaycke M Rajendiran; Tanu Soni; Jaeman Byun; Kumar Sharma; Patrice E Fort; Thomas W Gardner; Helen C Looker; Robert G Nelson; Frank C Brosius; Eva L Feldman; George Michailidis; Matthias Kretzler; Subramaniam Pennathur Journal: JCI Insight Date: 2019-11-01
Authors: Ryan H Ban; Virginia Kamvissi; Klaus-Martin Schulte; Stefan Richard Bornstein; Francesco Rubino; Juergen Graessler Journal: Curr Atheroscler Rep Date: 2014-11 Impact factor: 5.113
Authors: Swati Anand; SydneyA Young; M Sean Esplin; Benjamin Peaden; H Dennis Tolley; T Flint Porter; Michael W Varner; Mary E D'Alton; Bruce J Jackson; Steven W Graves Journal: J Lipid Res Date: 2016-02-18 Impact factor: 5.922
Authors: Ana Reis; Alisa Rudnitskaya; Pajaree Chariyavilaskul; Neeraj Dhaun; Vanessa Melville; Jane Goddard; David J Webb; Andrew R Pitt; Corinne M Spickett Journal: J Lipid Res Date: 2014-11-25 Impact factor: 5.922