PubMed

Development of a novel comprehensive analytical method for volatile compounds using supercritical fluid chromatography/mass spectrometry with a highly cross-linked styrene divinylbenzene polymer-based column. J Chromatogr A. 2020 Aug 30;1626:461363 Authors: Fujito Y, Hayakawa Y, Bamba T Abstract Analytical techniques to determine volatile compounds such as flavor, aroma, and fragrances are in high demand due to their wide range of applications in industry, the chemical properties of them are very diverse. Supercritical fluid chromatography (SFC) is capable of high speed, high peak capacity separation and has a high separation coverage. It is also an advantageous for preparative purifications due to its unique mobile phase conditions. However, there is no column commercially available for SFC that is suitable to comprehensively separate volatile compounds. SFC is limited to the use of silica-based columns due to weak retentions and polymer-based column issues such as pressure, swelling and shrinkage tolerances. This study demonstrated comprehensive analytical method for volatile in SFC using a highly cross-linked styrene divinylbenzene (SDVB) polymer-based column, newly developed for SFC. In this study, 23 typical volatile compounds with a wide variety of chemical properties were selected as model compounds. The newly developed SDVB column showed, compared to conventional silica-based columns (k > 0.3), an excellent overall and substantial improved retentions (k > 1.6) under SFC mobile phase conditions. It was also able to retain esters (hydroxy acetate, pentyl butylate, methyl salicylate) and non-polar terpenes (limonene, pinene) that did not show sufficient retention in any other commercially available silica-based columns. Aldehydes reacting on NH2 column due to Schiff base formation were also successfully eluted. It was confirmed that SDVB column provided comprehensive separation and wide coverage for volatile compounds. PMID: 32797842 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]

Effects of casein, chicken and pork proteins on regulation of body fat and blood inflammatory factors and metabolite patterns are largely dependent on protein level and less attributable to the protein source. J Agric Food Chem. 2020 Aug 14;: Authors: Song S, Xia T, Zhu C, Xue J, Fu Q, Hua C, Hooiveld GJEJ, Muller M, Li CB Abstract The impact of meat protein on metabolic regulation is still disputed, and may be influenced by protein level. This study aimed to explore the effects of casein, pork and chicken proteins at different protein levels (40% E vs. 20% E) on body weight regulation, body fat accumulation, serum hormone levels, and inflammatory factors/metabolites in rats maintained on high-fat (45% E fat) diets for 84 d. Increased protein-levels resulted in a significant reduction in body fat mass and an increase in serum levels of the anti-inflammatory cytokine IL-10, independent of protein source. Analysis of blood via untargeted metabolomics analysis identified 8, 4 and 4 metabolites significantly altered by protein level, protein source, and a protein level*source interaction, respectively. Together, the effects of casein, chicken and pork protein on the regulation of body fat accumulation and blood metabolite profile are largely dependent on protein level, and less attributable to the protein source. PMID: 32797752 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]

A computational and experimental study of the fragmentation of l-leucine, l-isoleucine and l-allo-isoleucine under collision-induced dissociation tandem mass spectrometry. Analyst. 2020 Aug 14;: Authors: Jiang C, Arthur CJ, Gates PJ Abstract The isomeric amino acids l-leucine, l-isoleucine and l-allo-isoleucine, are essential to many vital biological processes and are therefore of interest to the fields of metabolomics and proteomics. Their discrimination can be problematic however due to their isomeric natue. This study demonstrates a systematic investigation of the fragmentations of l-leucine, l-isoleucine and l-allo-isoleucine in combination with a thorough theoretical rationalisation. Collision induced dissociation (CID) tandem mass spectra (MS/MS) of all three amino acids were collected under a range of different collision energies to identify spontaneous and sequential fragmentation processes. We demonstrate that the three structural isomers can be distinguished by their CID MS/MS spectra, and additional computational modelling is used to rationalise these differences. PMID: 32797137 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]

Triacylglycerol synthesis enhances macrophage inflammatory function. Nat Commun. 2020 Aug 14;11(1):4107 Authors: Castoldi A, Monteiro LB, van Teijlingen Bakker N, Sanin DE, Rana N, Corrado M, Cameron AM, Hässler F, Matsushita M, Caputa G, Klein Geltink RI, Büscher J, Edwards-Hicks J, Pearce EL, Pearce EJ Abstract Foamy macrophages, which have prominent lipid droplets (LDs), are found in a variety of disease states. Toll-like receptor agonists drive triacylglycerol (TG)-rich LD development in macrophages. Here we explore the basis and significance of this process. Our findings indicate that LD development is the result of metabolic commitment to TG synthesis on a background of decreased fatty acid oxidation. TG synthesis is essential for optimal inflammatory macrophage activation as its inhibition, which prevents LD development, has marked effects on the production of inflammatory mediators, including IL-1β, IL-6 and PGE2, and on phagocytic capacity. The failure of inflammatory macrophages to make PGE2 when TG-synthesis is inhibited is critical for this phenotype, as addition of exogenous PGE2 is able to reverse the anti-inflammatory effects of TG synthesis inhibition. These findings place LDs in a position of central importance in inflammatory macrophage activation. PMID: 32796836 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]

Omics Application in Animal Science-A Special Emphasis on Stress Response and Damaging Behaviour in Pigs. Genes (Basel). 2020 Aug 11;11(8): Authors: Kasper C, Ribeiro D, Almeida AM, Larzul C, Liaubet L, Murani E Abstract Increasing stress resilience of livestock is important for ethical and profitable meat and dairy production. Susceptibility to stress can entail damaging behaviours, a common problem in pig production. Breeding animals with increased stress resilience is difficult for various reasons. First, studies on neuroendocrine and behavioural stress responses in farm animals are scarce, as it is difficult to record adequate phenotypes under field conditions. Second, damaging behaviours and stress susceptibility are complex traits, and their biology is not yet well understood. Dissecting complex traits into biologically better defined, heritable and easily measurable proxy traits and developing biomarkers will facilitate recording these traits in large numbers. High-throughput molecular technologies ("omics") study the entirety of molecules and their interactions in a single analysis step. They can help to decipher the contributions of different physiological systems and identify candidate molecules that are representative of different physiological pathways. Here, we provide a general overview of different omics approaches and we give examples of how these techniques could be applied to discover biomarkers. We discuss the genetic dissection of the stress response by different omics techniques and we provide examples and outline potential applications of omics tools to understand and prevent outbreaks of damaging behaviours. PMID: 32796712 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]

Metabolomics in Radiation Biodosimetry: Current Approaches and Advances. Metabolites. 2020 Aug 11;10(8): Authors: Satyamitra MM, Cassatt DR, Hollingsworth BA, Price PW, Rios CI, Taliaferro LP, Winters TA, DiCarlo AL Abstract Triage and medical intervention strategies for unanticipated exposure during a radiation incident benefit from the early, rapid and accurate assessment of dose level. Radiation exposure results in complex and persistent molecular and cellular responses that ultimately alter the levels of many biological markers, including the metabolomic phenotype. Metabolomics is an emerging field that promises the determination of radiation exposure by the qualitative and quantitative measurements of small molecules in a biological sample. This review highlights the current role of metabolomics in assessing radiation injury, as well as considerations for the diverse range of bioanalytical and sampling technologies that are being used to detect these changes. The authors also address the influence of the physiological status of an individual, the animal models studied, the technology and analysis employed in interrogating response to the radiation insult, and variables that factor into discovery and development of robust biomarker signatures. Furthermore, available databases for these studies have been reviewed, and existing regulatory guidance for metabolomics are discussed, with the ultimate goal of providing both context for this area of radiation research and the consideration of pathways for continued development. PMID: 32796693 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]

Ruggedness testing of liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry system components using microbiome-relevant methods and matrices. J Microbiol Methods. 2020 Aug 11;:106020 Authors: Horvath TD, Haidacher SJ, Oezguen N, Hoch KM, Auchtung JM, Haag AM Abstract Recently, an opportunity to perform a broad ruggedness assessment of our liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) system presented itself during the analytical planning phase of a large-scale human fecal microbiome study. The specific aim of this project was to study the microbial-mediated metabolism of a targeted set of bile acids/salts by mixed bacterial communities cultured from the feces of 12 healthy volunteers when grown in a custom growth medium and following exposure to different clinically-relevant antibiotics. The magnitude of this study offered a rare opportunity to significantly stress procedures and LC-MS/MS system components comprised in our bile acid/salt targeted metabolomics method. With this second specific aim in mind, we modified the sample analysis plan to include a series of figure-of-merit (FoM)-based tests that are commonly used in regulated bioanalytical labs to assess LC and MS system ruggedness for a specific assay - these FoM-based testing parameters were monitored continuously over the course of sample analysis and the results are presented in this report. In total, the assessment included 1206 sequential injections (180 calibration standards, 136 blank-internal standard samples, and 890 diluted medium samples) that took place over 8-days. Completion of the 8-days of non-stop sample analysis revealed no critical hardware or software failures, and the analysis of the FoM-based tests indicated no observable degradation of system performance over the number of samples and time tested. The FoM-based test metrics presented may be used as a template to assess the ruggedness of any LC-MS/MS-based targeted metabolomics workflow. PMID: 32795635 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]

Metabolomics investigation of summer mortality in New Zealand Greenshell™ mussels (Perna canaliculus). Fish Shellfish Immunol. 2020 Aug 11;: Authors: Nguyen TV, Alfaro AC Abstract Increasing water temperatures due to climate change have resulted in more frequent high mortality events of New Zealand Greenshell™ mussels (Perna canaliculus Gmelin 1791). These events have significant impacts within mussel farms which support a major shellfish industry for New Zealand. The present study investigates metabolic responses of farmed mussels during a summer mortality event in order to identify health impacts and elucidate mechanistic effects of external stressors on mussels. A gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS)-based metabolomics approach was used to identify metabolic perturbations and flow cytometry assays were used to assess viability, oxidative stress and apoptosis of haemocytes from healthy and unhealthy mussels during a summer mortality event. The results showed significantly higher mortality and apoptosis of haemocytes in unhealthy mussels compared to healthy mussels. Reactive oxygen species (ROS) production, which is an indicator of oxidative stress was very high in both mussel groups, but no differences were observed between the two mussel groups. Metabolomics revealed alterations of many metabolites in both haemolymph and hepatopancreas (digestive gland) of unhealthy mussels compared to healthy mussels, reflecting perturbations in several molecular pathways, including energy metabolism, amino acid metabolism, protein degradation/tissue damage and oxidative stress. Increased levels of itaconic acid, which is an antimicrobial metabolite was observed in haemolymph, but not in hepatopancreas samples. This investigation provides the first detailed metabolic characterization of mussel immune responses to a summer mortality event and illustrates the benefits of using an integrated metabolomics and flow cytometry workflow for mussel health assessment and biomarker identification for summer mortality early detection. PMID: 32795595 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]

Quantitative Metabolomics Reveals Heart Failure With Midrange Ejection Fraction as a Distinct Phenotype of Heart Failure. Can J Cardiol. 2020 Mar 28;: Authors: Zhao H, Shui B, Zhao Q, Hu Z, Shu Q, Su M, Zhang Y, Ni Y Abstract BACKGROUND: Heart failure with midrange ejection fraction (HFmrEF) has been recently acknowledged as a separate phenotype, but metabolomics evaluation of this subtype remains largely unexamined. METHODS: A quantitative metabolomics study on amino acids and acylcarnitines was performed to characterize different states of heart failure (HF) in 628 participants. Both multivariate orthogonal partial least squares- discriminant analysis and univariate Mann-Whitney U test were used to explore reliable metabolic profiles associated with different HF states. The resulting metabolites were further refined to obtain diagnostic metabolite scores (DMSs) with the use of ordinal logistic regression. Lasso-penalized regression was applied to produce a survival-associated prognostic metabolite score (PMS). The Cox proportional hazards model, Kaplan-Meier curves, and time-dependent receiver operating characteristics were used for a comprehensive assessment of prognostic value using PMS versus traditional clinical biomarkers. RESULTS: The optimized models identified a panel of 15 differential metabolites that were shared across different HF states, whereas some metabolites were associated with a specific state. PMS consisting of 9 metabolites demonstrated an appreciably better prognostic value (hazard ratio [HR] 1.62, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.25-2.1) vs the natural logarithm of N-terminal pro-B-type natriuretic peptide (Ln[NT-proBNP]; HR 1.23, 95% CI 0.94-1.61; P < 0.001). The overall area under the receiver operating characteristic curve value of PMS was superior to that of Ln(NT-proBNP) in risk prediction for patients with HFmrEF and HF with reduced ejection fraction (HFrEF) subtypes (P < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: Targeted metabolomics has provided a novel understanding of the molecular mechanism underlying HF. Both DMS and PMS clearly demonstrated HFmrEF as a distinct phenotype between a mild HF with preserved ejection fraction state and a severe HFrEF state. PMS exhibited superior prognostic value than Ln(NT-proBNP). Further investigation is needed with independent large-scale validation. PMID: 32795449 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]

20 new pubmed citations were retrieved for your search. Click on the search hyperlink below to display the complete search results: metabolomics These pubmed results were generated on 2020/08/16PubMed comprises more than millions of citations for biomedical literature from MEDLINE, life science journals, and online books. Citations may include links to full-text content from PubMed Central and publisher web sites.

20 new pubmed citations were retrieved for your search. Click on the search hyperlink below to display the complete search results: metabolomics These pubmed results were generated on 2020/08/15PubMed comprises more than millions of citations for biomedical literature from MEDLINE, life science journals, and online books. Citations may include links to full-text content from PubMed Central and publisher web sites.

33 new pubmed citations were retrieved for your search. Click on the search hyperlink below to display the complete search results: metabolomics These pubmed results were generated on 2020/08/14PubMed comprises more than millions of citations for biomedical literature from MEDLINE, life science journals, and online books. Citations may include links to full-text content from PubMed Central and publisher web sites.

33 new pubmed citations were retrieved for your search. Click on the search hyperlink below to display the complete search results: metabolomics These pubmed results were generated on 2020/08/14PubMed comprises more than millions of citations for biomedical literature from MEDLINE, life science journals, and online books. Citations may include links to full-text content from PubMed Central and publisher web sites.

20 new pubmed citations were retrieved for your search. Click on the search hyperlink below to display the complete search results: metabolomics These pubmed results were generated on 2020/08/13PubMed comprises more than millions of citations for biomedical literature from MEDLINE, life science journals, and online books. Citations may include links to full-text content from PubMed Central and publisher web sites.

17 new pubmed citations were retrieved for your search. Click on the search hyperlink below to display the complete search results: metabolomics These pubmed results were generated on 2020/08/12PubMed comprises more than millions of citations for biomedical literature from MEDLINE, life science journals, and online books. Citations may include links to full-text content from PubMed Central and publisher web sites.

33 new pubmed citations were retrieved for your search. Click on the search hyperlink below to display the complete search results: metabolomics These pubmed results were generated on 2020/08/11PubMed comprises more than millions of citations for biomedical literature from MEDLINE, life science journals, and online books. Citations may include links to full-text content from PubMed Central and publisher web sites.

Related Articles Metabolomics signature of the seminal plasma in men with severe oligoasthenospermia. Andrology. 2020 Aug 08;: Authors: Boguenet M, Bocca C, Bouet PE, Serri O, Chupin S, Tessier L, Blanchet O, El Hachem H, Chao de la Barca JM, Reynier P, MayPanloup P Abstract BACKGROUND: Male factor is incriminated in approximately 50% of cases of infertility. The metabolomics approach has recently been used in the assessment of sperm quality and male fertility. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We analyzed the metabolomics signatures of the seminal plasma in 20 men with severe oligoasthenospermia (prewash total motile sperm count <5.106 ) (SOA) and compared it to 20 men with normal semen parameters, with a standardized approach of targeted and quantitative metabolomics using high-performance liquid chromatography, coupled with tandem mass spectrometry, and the Biocrates Absolute IDQ p180 kit. RESULTS: Among the 188 metabolites analyzed, 110 were accurately measured in the seminal plasma. A robust model discriminating the two populations (Q2(cum) = 55.2%) was obtained by OPLS-DA (orthogonal partial least-squares discriminant analysis), based on the drop in concentrations of 37 metabolites with a VIP (variable important for projection) greater than 1. Overall, in men with SOA, there was a significant decrease in: 17 phosphatidylcholines and four sphingomyelins; acylcarnitines, with free L-carnitine being the most discriminating metabolite; polyunsaturated fatty acids; six amino acids (glutamate, aspartate, methionine, tryptophan, proline and alanine); and four biogenic amines (spermine, spermidine, serotonin, alpha-aminoadipate). DISCUSSION: Our signature includes several metabolic changes with different impacts on the sperm quality: a change in phospholipids composition and the saturation of their fatty acids that is potentially linked to the deterioration of sperm membranes; a carnitine deficiency that can negatively impact the energy production via fatty acids oxidation and oxidative phosphorylation; and a decreased level of amino acids and biogenic amines that can lead to dysregulated metabolic and signaling pathways. CONCLUSION: We provide a global overview of the metabolic defects contributing to the structural and functional alteration of spermatozoa in severe oligoasthenospermia. These findings offer new insights into the pathophysiology of male factor infertility that could help to develop future specific treatments. PMID: 32770844 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]

Related Articles Air Pollution and Adverse Pregnancy and Birth Outcomes: Mediation Analysis Using Metabolomic Profiles. Curr Environ Health Rep. 2020 Aug 08;: Authors: Inoue K, Yan Q, Arah OA, Paul K, Walker DI, Jones DP, Ritz B Abstract PURPOSE OF REVIEW: Review how to use metabolomic profiling in causal mediation analysis to assess epidemiological evidence for air pollution impacts on birth outcomes. RECENT FINDINGS: Maternal exposures to air pollutants have been associated with pregnancy complications and adverse pregnancy and birth outcomes. Causal mediation analysis enables us to estimate direct and indirect effects on outcomes (i.e., effect decomposition), elucidating causal mechanisms or effect pathways. Maternal metabolites and metabolic pathways are perturbed by air pollution exposures may lead to adverse pregnancy and birth outcomes, thus they can be considered mediators in the causal pathways. Metabolomic markers have been used to explain the biological mechanisms linking air pollution and respiratory function, and of arsenic exposure and birth weight. However, mediation analysis of metabolomic markers has not been used to assess air pollution effects on adverse birth outcomes. In this article, we describe the assumptions and applications of mediation analysis using metabolomic markers that elucidate the potential mechanisms of the effects of air pollution on adverse pregnancy and birth outcomes. The hypothesis of mediation along specified pathways can be assessed within the structural causal modeling framework. For causal inferences, several assumptions that go beyond the data-including no uncontrolled confounding-need to be made to justify the effect decomposition. Nevertheless, studies that integrate metabolomic information in causal mediation analysis may greatly improve our understanding of the effects of ambient air pollution on adverse pregnancy and birth outcomes as they allow us to suggest and test hypotheses about underlying biological mechanisms in studies of pregnant women. PMID: 32770318 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]

Related Articles Integrated omics analysis reveals the alteration of gut microbe-metabolites in obese adults. Brief Bioinform. 2020 Aug 07;: Authors: Li R, Huang X, Liang X, Su M, Lai KP, Chen J Abstract Obesity, a risk to health, is a global problem in modern society. The prevalence of obesity was approximately 13% among world's adult population. Recently, several reports suggested that the interference of gut microbiota composition and function is associated with metabolic disorders, including obesity. Gut microbiota produce a board range of metabolites involved in energy and glucose homeostasis, leading to the alteration in host metabolism. However, systematic evaluation of the relationship between gut microbiota, gut metabolite and host metabolite profiles in obese adults is still lacking. In this study, we used comparative metagenomics and metabolomics analysis to determine the gut microbiota and gut-host metabolite profiles in six normal and obese adults of Chinese origin, respectively. Following the functional and pathway analysis, we aimed to understand the possible impact of gut microbiota on the host metabolites via the change in gut metabolites. The result showed that the change in gut microbiota may result in the modulation of gut metabolites contributing to glycolysis, tricarboxylic acid cycle and homolactic fermentation. Furthermore, integrated metabolomic analysis demonstrated a possible positive correlation of dysregulated metabolites in the gut and host, including l-phenylalanine, l-tyrosine, uric acid, kynurenic acid, cholesterol sulfate and glucosamine, which were reported to contribute to metabolic disorders such as obesity and diabetes. The findings of this study provide the possible association between gut microbiota-metabolites and host metabolism in obese adults. The identified metabolite changes could serve as biomarkers for the evaluation of obesity and metabolic disorders. PMID: 32770198 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]

Related Articles COVID-19 salivary signature: diagnostic and research opportunities. J Clin Pathol. 2020 Aug 07;: Authors: Sapkota D, Søland TM, Galtung HK, Sand LP, Giannecchini S, To KKW, Mendes-Correa MC, Giglio D, Hasséus B, Braz-Silva PH Abstract The COVID-19 (caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2)) epidemic started in Wuhan (Hubei Province, China) in mid-December 2019 and quickly spread across the world as a pandemic. As a key to tracing the disease and to implement strategies aimed at breaking the chain of disease transmission, extensive testing for SARS-CoV-2 was suggested. Although nasopharyngeal/oropharyngeal swabs are the most commonly used biological samples for SARS-CoV-2 diagnosis, they have a number of limitations related to sample collection and healthcare personnel safety. In this context, saliva is emerging as a promising alternative to nasopharyngeal/oropharyngeal swabs for COVID-19 diagnosis and monitoring. Saliva collection, being a non-invasive approach with possibility for self-collection, circumvents to a great extent the limitations associated with the use of nasopharyngeal/oropharyngeal swabs. In addition, various salivary biomarkers including the salivary metabolomics offer a high promise to be useful for better understanding of COVID-19 and possibly in the identification of patients with various degrees of severity, including asymptomatic carriers. This review summarises the clinical and scientific basis for the potential use of saliva for COVID-19 diagnosis and disease monitoring. Additionally, we discuss saliva-based biomarkers and their potential clinical and research applications related to COVID-19. PMID: 32769214 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]