Exploring serum metabolic profiles in postmenopausal osteoporosis women by using NMR metabolomics and network pharmacology

Abstract

Objective: To investigate the distinctive metabolites within the serum of women afflicted with postmenopausal osteoporosis (PMOP), and clarify the mechanism of PMOP development in combination with network pharmacology. Methods: 150 female participants were divided into two teams: the PMOP team (C/D/E/F groups, n=30/group) and the control team (A group, n=30). All women's clinical indicators and basic information were collected and recorded. The hydrogen profile characteristics of all participants were analysed by nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR), and the differences in serum metabolic profiles between the PMOP and control teams were analysed by multivariate analysis using principal component analysis (PCA), partial least squares discriminant analysis (PLS-DA) and orthogonal partial least squares-discriminant analysis (OPLS-DA). PMOP disease-related targets from Genecards, OMIM, DisGeNET, DrugBank, TTD and other databases were selected for pathway enrichment analysis. Results: The serum differential metabolites between the PMOP and control teams included Creatine, Ethanolamine, Formate, Glutamine, Glycerol, Isobutyrate, Isoleucine, Lactate, LDL, CH3-(CH2)n-, Leucine, Lysine, Malonate, Methoinine, Phenylalanine, Pyruvate, Tyrosine, Valine, -CH2-CH2-C=O, α-Glucose, and β-Glucose. The pathways of serum metabolite enrichment include Aminoacyl-tRNA biosynthesis; Valine, leucine and isoleucine biosynthesis; Nitrogen metabolism; Valine, leucine and isoleucine degradation; Glycolysis or Gluconeogenesis. Major pathways enriched for PMOP targets include Pathways in cancer, Cytokine-cytokine receptor interaction, PI3K-Akt signalling pathway, Neuroactive ligand-receptor interaction, and Lipid and atherosclerosis. Conclusions: The PMOP team differed from the control team in amino acid metabolism, glucose metabolism, lipid metabolism, and energy metabolism pathways. Formic acid may be a potential biological marker for PMOP.