High resolution metabolomics technology reveals widespread pathway changes of alcoholic liver disease.

Alcoholic liver disease (ALD) is a significant cause of death and morbidity. However little is known regarding the widespread pathway changes of ALD disorder. This study utilized metabolomic profiling to examine the pathogenic mechanisms of ALD based on a rat model. A total of 21 metabolites with significant changes were identified, involving several key metabolic pathways such as pentose and glucuronate interconversions, starch and sucrose metabolism, cysteine and methionine metabolism. Furthermore, the differential proteins corresponding to alterations in metabolism across the metabolic network were identified using iTRAQ-based quantitative proteomics analysis. The proteins appear to be involved in protein binding, metabolism, immune response, and signal conduction. Interestingly, integrated omics profiling firstly reveals that p53 and Fc epsilon RI signaling pathways were closely related to ALD. Our study indicates that most of these proteins were found to play a pivotal role in the regulation of multiple metabolism pathways. Collectively, the current study provides insights into the molecular mechanisms of ALD from widespread pathway changes.