Variations in Quinolinic Acid Levels in Tuberculosis Patients with Diabetes Comorbidity: A Pilot Prospective Cohort Study

Abstract

Objective We aimed to investigate dysregulated metabolic pathways and identify diagnostic and therapeutic targets in patients with tuberculosis-diabetes (TB-DM). Methods In our prospective cohort study, plasma samples were collected from healthy individuals, diabetic (DM) patients, untreated TB-only (TB-0)/TB-DM patients (TB-DM-0), and cured TB (TB-6)/TB-DM patients (TB-DM-6) to measure the levels of amino acids, fatty acids, and other metabolites in plasma using high-throughput targeted quantification methods. Results Significantly different biological processes and biomarkers were identified in DM, TB-DM-0, and TB-DM-6 patients. Moreover, quinolinic acid (QA) showed excellent predictive accuracy for distinguishing between DM patients and TB-DM-0 patients, with an AUC of 1 (95% CI 1–1). When differentiating between TB-DM-0 patients and TB-DM-6 patients, the AUC was 0.9297 (95% CI 0.8460–1). Compared to those in DM patients, the QA levels were significantly elevated in TB-DM-0 patients and decreased significantly after antituberculosis treatment. We simultaneously compared healthy controls and untreated tuberculosis patients and detected an increase in the level of QA in the plasma of tuberculosis patients, which decreased following treatment. Conclusion These findings improve the current understanding of tuberculosis treatment in patients with diabetes. QA may serve as an ideal diagnostic biomarker for TB-DM patients and contribute to the development of more effective treatments.