Using an untargeted metabolomics approach to analyze serum metabolites in COVID-19 patients with nucleic acid turning negative

Abstract

Background: The coronavirus disease of 2019 (COVID-19) is a severe public health issue that has infected millions of people. The effective prevention and control of COVID-19 has resulted in a considerable increase in the number of cured cases. However, little research has been done on a complete metabonomic examination of metabolic alterations in COVID-19 patients following treatment. The current project pursues rigorously to characterize the variation of serum metabolites between healthy controls and COVID-19 patients with nucleic acid turning negative via untargeted metabolomics.Methods: The metabolic difference between 20 COVID-19 patients (CT ≥ 35) and 20 healthy controls were investigated utilizing untargeted metabolomics analysis employing High-resolution UHPLC-MS/MS. COVID-19 patients’ fundamental clinical indicators, as well as health controls, were also collected.Results: Out of the 714 metabolites identified, 203 still significantly differed between COVID-19 patients and healthy controls, including multiple amino acids, fatty acids, and glycerophospholipids. The clinical indexes including monocytes, lymphocytes, albumin concentration, total bilirubin and direct bilirubin have also differed between our two groups of participators.Conclusion: Our results clearly showed that in COVID-19 patients with nucleic acid turning negative, their metabolism was still dysregulated in amino acid metabolism and lipid metabolism, which could be the mechanism of long-COVID and calls for specific post-treatment care to help COVID-19 patients recover.

Untargeted analysis in post-COVID-19 patients reveals dysregulated lipid pathways two years after recovery

“…Our group has reported alteration in the levels of acylcarnitines and glycerophospholipids (phosphatidylcholines and lysophosphatidylcholines) upon admission in emergency rooms (early onset of symptoms) (López-Hernández et al, 2021). Chen and cols (Chen et al, 2022). reported that in COVID-19 patients with nucleic acid turning negative (still hospitalized), lipid metabolism was dysregulated.…”

Unraveling lipid and inflammation interplay in cancer, aging and infection for novel theranostic approaches

“…Y. López-Hernández showed early-stage alterations in acylcarnitines and glycerophospholipids (PCs and LPCs) in patients admitted to emergency rooms ( 136 ). Chen and colleagues have reported that even in patients with negative nucleic acid tests (still hospitalized), lipid metabolism remains dysregulated ( 137 ). Approximately two months post-discharge, Acosta-Ampudia et al.…”

Metabolomics as a powerful tool for diagnostic, pronostic and drug intervention analysis in COVID-19

“…Glutamate alteration in COVID-19 is in part mediated by the α-glutathione S-transferase, associated with certain processes such as liver failure, skeletal muscle metabolism, cancer or immunodeficiency ( Kinscherf et al, 1996 ; Cruzat et al, 2018 ). Other found alterations include the circulating exosome ( Alzahrani et al, 2021 ; Lam et al, 2021 ), the serum fatty acids ( Chen et al, 2022 ) and other serum lipids such as carnitines ( Castañé et al, 2022 ), ceramides ( Dei Cas et al, 2021 ; Khodadoust, 2021 ) and phospholipids ( Barberis et al, 2020 ; Shen et al, 2020 ; Janneh et al, 2021 ; Masoodi et al, 2022 ). The serum lipoprotein composition is also largely dysregulated ( Bruzzone et al, 2020 ; Kimhofer et al, 2020 ; Lodge et al, 2021c ; 2021a ; Gray et al, 2021 ; Masuda et al, 2021 ), showing a pathogenic redistribution of the lipoprotein particle size and composition to increase the atherosclerotic risk.…”