Serum metabolomics analysis reveals metabolite profile and key biomarkers of idiopathic membranous nephropathy

PeerJ

article

Mingjun Ye¹  Donge Tang¹  Weilong Li³  Chiyu Ma¹  Zhipeng Zeng¹  Shengyou Liao¹  Zhuoheng Song³  Yu Meng²  Fanna Liu²  Shaodong Luan³  Lianghong Yin²  Yong Dai¹ 

[1] Clinical Medical Research Center, The Second Clinical Medical College of Jinan University, Shenzhen People’s Hospital;Institute of Nephrology and Blood Purification, the First Affiliated Hospital of Jinan University, Jinan University;Department of Nephrology, Shenzhen Longhua District Central Hospital

关键词: Idiopathic membranous nephropathy;    Biomarker analysis;    Metabolomics;    Dehydroepiandrosterone sulfate;    Gut microbes;   

DOI  :  10.7717/peerj.15167

学科分类：社会科学、人文和艺术（综合）

来源: Inra

【 摘 要 】

Background Idiopathic membranous nephropathy (IMN) is an organ-specific autoimmune disease with multiple and complex pathogenic mechanisms. Currently, renal biopsy is considered the gold standard for diagnosing membranous nephropathy. However, there were limitations to the renal puncture biopsy, such as the relatively high cost, longer time consuming, and the risk of invasive procedures. We investigated the profile of serum metabolites in IMN patients based on the UHPLC-QE-MS metabolomics technique for exploring the potential disease biomarkers and clinical implementation. Methods In our research, we collected serum samples from healthy control (n = 15) and IMN patients (n = 25) to perform metabolomics analysis based on the UHPLC-QE-MS technique. Result We identified 215 differentially expressed metabolites (DEMs) between the IMN and healthy control (HC) groups. Furthermore, these DEMs were significantly identified in histidine metabolism, arginine and proline metabolism, pyrimidine metabolism, purine metabolism, and steroid hormone biosynthesis. Several key DEMs were significantly correlated with the level of clinical parameters, such as serum albumin, IgG, UTP, and cholesterol. Among them, dehydroepiandrosterone sulfate (DHEAS) was considered the reliable diagnostic biomarker in the IMN group. There was an increased abundance of actinobacteria, phylum proteobacteria, and class gammaproteobacterial in IMN patients for host-microbiome origin analysis. Conclusion Our study revealed the profiles of DEMs from the IMN and HC groups. The result demonstrated that there were disorders of amino acids, nucleotides, and steroids hormones metabolism in IMN patients. The down-regulation of DHEAS may be associated with the imbalance of the immune environment in IMN patients. In host-microbiome origin analysis, the gut microbiota and metabolite disturbances were present in IMN patients.

【 授权许可】

CC BY