Metabolomics of neurological disorders in India

NMR based Serum metabolomics revealed metabolic signatures associated with oxidative stress and mitochondrial damage in brain stroke

Brain stroke (BS, also known as a cerebrovascular accident), represents a serious global health crisis. It has been a leading cause of permanent disability and unfortunately, frequent fatalities due to lack of timely medical intervention. While progress has been made in prevention and management, the complexities and consequences of stroke continue to pose significant challenges, especially, its impact on patient's quality of life and independence. During stroke, there is a substantial decrease in oxygen supply to the brain leading to alteration of cellular metabolic pathways, including those involved in mitochondrial-damage, leading to mitochondrial-dysfunction. The present proof-of-the-concept metabolomics study has been performed to gain insights into the metabolic pathways altered following a brain stroke and discover new potential targets for timely interventions to mitigate the effects of cellular and mitochondrial damage in BS. The serum metabolic profiles of 108 BS-patients were measured using 800 MHz NMR spectroscopy and compared with 60 age and sex matched normal control (NC) subjects. Compared to NC, the serum levels of glutamate, TCA-cycle intermediates (such as citrate, succinate, etc.), and membrane metabolites (betaine, choline, etc.) were found to be decreased BS patients, whereas those of methionine, mannose, mannitol, phenylalanine, urea, creatine and organic acids (such as 3-hydroxybutyrate and acetone) were found to be elevated in BS patients. These metabolic changes hinted towards hypoxia mediated mitochondrial dysfunction in BS-patients. Further, the area under receiver operating characteristic curve (ROC) values for five metabolic features (methionine, mannitol, phenylalanine, mannose and urea) found to be more than 0.9 suggesting their high sensitivity and specificity for differentiating BS from NC subjects.