Tingting Xu1, Yunke Guo1, Jiawei Lu1, Jinjun Shan2, Lili Lin2, Wenjuan Qian2, Wenjun Chen1, Jue Wang3, Xiangyu Lv3, Mengying Ke2, Deshun Kong2, Qiuxiang Shen2, Youjuan Zhu2, Ping Liu4, Jinfeng Su4, Wang Lu4, Yuhua Li4, Pan Gao4, Shijia Liu5. 1. Affiliated Hospital of Nanjing University of Chinese Medicine, Nanjing, Jiangsu, China. 2. College of Pharmacy, Jiangsu Collaborative Innovation Centre of Chinese Medicinal Resource Industrialization, Nanjing University of Chinese Medicine, Nanjing, Jiangsu, China. 3. Affiliated Hospital of Nanjing University of Chinese Medicine, Nanjing, Jiangsu, and Jiangsu Key Laboratory of TCM Evaluation and Translational Research, China Pharmaceutical University, Nanjing, Jiangsu, China. 4. Xuzhou Medical University, Xuzhou, Jiangsu, China. 5. Affiliated Hospital of Nanjing University of Chinese Medicine, Nanjing, Jiangsu, and Department of Biomedical Engineering, College of Engineering and Applied Sciences, Nanjing National Laboratory of Microstructures, Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Artificial Functional Materials, Nanjing University, Nanjing, Jiangsu, China. liushijia_2019@126.com.
Abstract
OBJECTIVES: At present, the pathogenesis of Sjögren's syndrome (SS) remains unclear. This research aimed to identify differential metabolites that contribute to SS diagnosis and discover the disturbed metabolic pathways. METHODS: Recent advances in mass spectrometry have allowed the identification of hundreds of unique metabolic signatures and the exploration of altered metabolite profiles in disease. In this study, 505 candidates including healthy controls (HCs) and SS patients were recruited and the serum samples were collected. A non-targeted gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) serum metabolomics method was used to explore the changes in serum metabolites. RESULTS: We found SS patients and HCs can be distinguished by 21 significant metabolites. The levels of alanine, tryptophan, glycolic acid, pelargonic acid, cis-1-2-dihydro-1-2-naphthalenediol, diglycerol, capric acid, turanose, behenic acid, dehydroabietic acid, stearic acid, linoleic acid, heptadecanoic acid, valine, and lactic acid were increased in serum samples from SS patients, whereas levels of catechol, anabasine, 3-6-anhydro-D-galactose, beta-gentiobiose, 2-ketoisocaproic acid and ethanolamine were decreased. The significantly changed pathways included the following: Linoleic acid metabolism; unsaturated fatty acid biosynthesis; aminoacyl-tRNA biosynthesis; valine, leucine, and isoleucine biosynthesis; glycerolipid metabolism; selenocompound metabolism; galactose metabolism; alanine, aspartate and glutamate metabolism; glyoxylate and dicarboxylate metabolism; glycerophospholipid metabolism; and valine, leucine and isoleucine degradation. CONCLUSIONS: These findings enhance the informative capacity of biochemical analyses through the identification of serum biomarkers and the analysis of metabolic pathways and contribute to an improved understanding of the pathogenesis of SS.
OBJECTIVES: At present, the pathogenesis of Sjögren's syndrome (SS) remains unclear. This research aimed to identify differential metabolites that contribute to SS diagnosis and discover the disturbed metabolic pathways. METHODS: Recent advances in mass spectrometry have allowed the identification of hundreds of unique metabolic signatures and the exploration of altered metabolite profiles in disease. In this study, 505 candidates including healthy controls (HCs) and SS patients were recruited and the serum samples were collected. A non-targeted gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) serum metabolomics method was used to explore the changes in serum metabolites. RESULTS: We found SS patients and HCs can be distinguished by 21 significant metabolites. The levels of alanine, tryptophan, glycolic acid, pelargonic acid, cis-1-2-dihydro-1-2-naphthalenediol, diglycerol, capric acid, turanose, behenic acid, dehydroabietic acid, stearic acid, linoleic acid, heptadecanoic acid, valine, and lactic acid were increased in serum samples from SS patients, whereas levels of catechol, anabasine, 3-6-anhydro-D-galactose, beta-gentiobiose, 2-ketoisocaproic acid and ethanolamine were decreased. The significantly changed pathways included the following: Linoleic acid metabolism; unsaturated fatty acid biosynthesis; aminoacyl-tRNA biosynthesis; valine, leucine, and isoleucine biosynthesis; glycerolipid metabolism; selenocompound metabolism; galactose metabolism; alanine, aspartate and glutamate metabolism; glyoxylate and dicarboxylate metabolism; glycerophospholipid metabolism; and valine, leucine and isoleucine degradation. CONCLUSIONS: These findings enhance the informative capacity of biochemical analyses through the identification of serum biomarkers and the analysis of metabolic pathways and contribute to an improved understanding of the pathogenesis of SS.