<p>Urinary Metabolomic Profiling Reveals Biological Pathways and Predictive Signatures Associated with Childhood Asthma</p>

Abstract

Background Despite considerable efforts, the pathogenic mechanisms of asthma are still incompletely understood, due to its heterogeneous nature. However, metabolomics can offer a global view of a biological system, making it a valuable tool for further elucidation of mechanisms and biomarker discovery in asthma. Methods GC-MS–based metabolomic analysis was conducted for comparison of urine metabolic profiles between asthmatic children (n=30) and healthy controls (n=30). Results An orthogonal projections to latent structures discriminant–analysis model revealed a clear separation of the asthma and control groups ( R 2 x =0.137, R 2 y =0.947, Q 2 =0.82). A total of 20 differential metabolites were identified as discriminant factors, of which eleven were significantly increased and nine decreased in the asthma group compared to the control group. Pathway-enrichment analysis based on these differential metabolites indicated that sphingolipid metabolism, protein biosynthesis, and citric acid cycle were strongly associated with asthma. Among the identified metabolites, 2-hydroxybutanoic acid showed excellent discriminatory performance for distinguishing asthma from healthy controls, with an AUC of 0.969. Conclusion Our study revealed significant changes in the urine metabolome of asthma patients. Several perturbed pathways (eg, sphingolipid metabolism and citric acid cycle) may be related to asthma pathogenesis, and 2-hydroxybutanoic acid could serve as a potential biomarker for asthma diagnosis.

Metabolomics of bronchoalveolar lavage in children with persistent wheezing

“…Recent studies shows that metabolomics enhances the diagnostic accuracy of acute respiratory distress syndrome and asthma, and highlights the potential of metabolomics to “deep phenotype” pulmonary diseases [ 11 ]. A previous study indicated that urine sphingolipid metabolism, protein biosynthesis, and citric acid cycle were strongly associated with asthma, and hydroxybutanoic acid showed excellent discriminatory performance for distinguishing asthma from healthy controls [ 26 ]. The urinary metabolomics revealed that microbial-derived metabolites such as dimethylamine are associated with early childhood asthma, while methylnicotinamide and allantoin may participate in allergic reactions in response to allergen exposure, potentially serving as specific biomarkers for asthma [ 27 ].…”

Small molecule metabolites: discovery of biomarkers and therapeutic targets

“…Recently, metabolism has acquired interest regarding the relationship with environmental factors, host genes and diseases. 625 – 630 How does small molecule metabolites drive phenotype modulation? The common regulating mechanism of active pathway is metabolites bind allosteric sites on enzymes.…”

Relationship of urinary excretion of calcium and phosphates and spirometric parameters in children with bronchial asthma

“…Бронхиальная астма (БА) -это гетерогенное заболевание с разными фенотипами, эндотипами и реакциями на лечение. Лучшему пониманию детской астмы может способствовать выявление потенциальных диагностических биомаркеров для детализации патогенетических механизмов болезни и определения мишеней терапии [1]. В последние годы достижению этих целей способствует метаболомика, которая систематически анализирует глобальный сбор эндогенных низкомолекулярных метаболитов (аминокислот, липидов, углеводов, нуклеотидов и органических кислот) в биосубстратах [2].…”