Integrated serum proteins and fatty acids analysis for putative biomarker discovery in inflammatory bowel disease

Abstract

Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is a chronic inflammatory condition of unknown etiology that can develop in any portion of the digestive tract but which has a high incidence especially in the terminal ileum and/or in the colon. The diagnosis and management of IBD, including Crohn's disease (CD) and ulcerative colitis (UC), is still challenging, and the presence of intestinal inflammation is, to date, a primary criterion for its diagnosis and differentiation from other diseases. Moreover, there is no decisive gold standard diagnostic test based on patient history and physical examination, supplemented with objective laboratory, radiological, endoscopic and histological findings.This study analyzed plasma proteins and fatty acids using mass spectrometry-based techniques. Quantitation of low-abundance plasma proteins was performed by depleting 14 high-abundance proteins, followed by tryptic digestion and LC-MS analysis, while fatty acids were analyzed using GC-MS.We used bioinformatic tools to identify several new potential biomarkers for an early and non-invasive diagnosis of IBD, and to differentiate CD from UC. Moreover, the diagnostic power of the MS-identified biomarkers was also corroborated by Western Blot and ELISA assays. Hence, we identified the biological functions and pathways involved in the various subsets of IBD.Coagulation, fibrinolysis and acute phase response processes were found to be strongly involved in the condition. The involvement of several fatty acids, such as anti-inflammatory mediators, was also identified. Finally, proteomic and lipidomic data were integrated by using combinatorial and multivariate analyses to discover new combined biomarkers and to study the molecular pathways involved in IBD.

Understanding protection from SARS-CoV-2 using metabolomics

“…The acquisition rates were 200 spectra/s and the modulation period was 4 s for the entire run. The modulator temperature offset was set at + 15 °C relative to the secondary oven temperature, while the transfer line was set at 280 °C 5 , 61 .…”

Changes in the diet composition of fatty acids and fiber affect the lower gastrointestinal motility but have no impact on cardiovascular parameters: In vivo and in vitro studies

“…Some studies included biochemical assessment of the level of FAs in patient's serum. [22][23][24] Once FAs are released in the process of digestion, their presence in the GI tract can be associated with changes in GI function. While evaluating the effects of FAs on GI motility, an emphasis should be put on the type and amount of FAs being consumed.…”

“…There are some clear signals that dietary FAs are relevant factors in the pathogenesis of GI disorders, but to our knowledge, most results were based on retrospective or prospective evaluation of dietary questionnaires, which raises the possibility of recall bias. Some studies included biochemical assessment of the level of FAs in patient's serum . Once FAs are released in the process of digestion, their presence in the GI tract can be associated with changes in GI function.…”

Fiat Lux ... how Alessandro Volta illuminated his scripts

“…The mass spectral assignment was performed by matching with NIST MS Search 2.3. libraries, implemented with the MoNa Fiehns libraries. During data processing method, the similarity score calculation in library searching was set at >700 (index of identification reliability), in order to select only the higher library hits which were correctly assigned with high confidence [9].…”