Serum proteomic analysis reveals high frequency of haptoglobin deficiency and elevated thyroxine level in heroin addicts

Changes on proteomic and metabolomic profile in serum of mice induced by chronic exposure to tramadol

Tramadol is an opioid used as an analgesic for treating moderate or severe pain. The long-term use of tramadol can induce several adverse effects. The toxicological mechanism of tramadol abuse is unclear. Limited literature available indicates the change of proteomic profile after chronic exposure to tramadol. In this study, we analyzed the proteomic and metabolomic profile by TMT-labeled quantitative proteomics and untargeted metabolomics between the tramadol and the control group. Proteomic analysis revealed 31 differential expressed serum proteins (9 increased and 22 decreased) in tramadol-treated mice (oral, 50 mg/kg, 5 weeks) as compared with the control ones. Bioinformatics analysis showed that the dysregulated proteins mainly included: enzyme inhibitor-associated proteins (i.e. apolipoprotein C-III (Apoc-III), alpha-1-antitrypsin 1–2 (Serpina 1b), apolipoprotein C-II (Apoc-II), plasma protease C1 inhibitor, inter-alpha-trypsin inhibitor heavy chain H3 (itih3)); mitochondria-related proteins (i.e. 14-3-3 protein zeta/delta (YWHAZ)); cytoskeleton proteins (i.e. tubulin alpha-4A chain (TUBA4A), vinculin (Vcl)). And we found that the differential expressed proteins mainly involved in the pathway of the protein digestion and absorption. Metabolomics analysis revealed that differential expressed metabolites mainly involved in protein ingestion and absorption, fatty acid biosynthesis, steroid hormone biosynthesis and bile secretion. Our overall findings revealed that chronic exposure to tramadol changed the proteomic and metabolomic profile of mice. Moreover, integrated proteomic and metabolomic revealed that the protein digestion and absorption is the common enrichment KEGG pathway. Thus, the combination of proteomics and metabolomics opens new avenues for the research of the molecular mechanisms of tramadol toxicity.

Evolving Magnetically Levitated Plasma Proteins Detects Opioid Use Disorder as a Model Disease

There are several methods (e.g., enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay and liquid chromatography mass spectroscopy) that already use human plasma to detect a variety of possible diseases. However, this paper introduces the capabilities of magnetic levitation (Maglev) to detect disease (Opioid Use Disorder, used here as a model disease) by using levitation of human plasma proteins. The presented proof-of-concept findings revealed that the optical images of magnetically levitated plasma proteins carry important information about the health spectrum of plasma donors. In addition, the liquid chromatography mass spectroscopy analysis of the magnetically levitated plasma proteins demonstrated remarkable differences between the plasma of healthy individuals and patients with opioid use disorders. Overall, the presented method provides diagnostic value for disease detection using optical images of evolving magnetically levitated plasma proteins and/or proteomic information.

Correlation of geographic distributions of haptoglobin alleles with prevalence of multiple sclerosis (MS) - a narrative literature review

We have proposed that the myelin damage observed in multiple sclerosis (MS) may be partly mediated through the long-term release and degradation of extracellular hemoglobin (Hb) and the products of its oxidative degradation [Cellular and Molecular Life Sciences, 71, 1789-1798, 2014]. The protein haptoglobin (Hpt) binds extracellular Hb as a first line of defense, and can serve as a vascular antioxidant. Humans have two different Hpt alleles: Hpt1 and Hpt2, giving either homozygous Hpt1-1 or Hpt2-2 phenotypes, or a heterozygous Hpt1-2 phenotype. We questioned whether those geographic regions with higher frequency of the Hpt2 allele (conversely, lower frequency of Hpt1 allele) would correlate with an increased incidence of MS, because different Hpt phenotypes will have variable anti-oxidative potentials in protecting myelin from damage inflicted by extracellular Hb and its degradation products. To test this hypothesis, we undertook a systematic analysis of the literature on reported geographic distributions of Hpt alleles to compare them with data reported in the World Health Organization Atlas of worldwide MS prevalence. We found the frequency of the Hpt1 allele to be low in European and North American countries with a high prevalence of MS, consistent with our hypothesis. However, this correlation was not observed in China and India, countries with the lowest Hpt1 frequencies, yet low reported prevalence of MS. Nevertheless, this work shows the need for continued refinement of geographic patterns of MS prevalence, including data on ethnic or racial origin, and for new clinical studies to probe the observed correlation and evaluate Hpt phenotype as a predictor of disease variability and progression, severity, and/or comorbidity with cardiovascular disorders.