The utility of biomarkers in hepatocellular carcinoma: review of urine-based 1H-NMR studies - what the clinician needs to know

Magnetic resonance spectroscopy ex vivo: A short historical review

Over the last half century, there have been several periods during which magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS) has been used ex vivo, for a variety of reasons, on samples such as microorganisms, cells, animal or human tissue, tissue extracts or biological fluids. These studies began in the days before the acronym MRS had been invented, when all such methods were still called nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR), and have extended to the present day. I will describe the historical development of NMR methods used ex vivo, their influences on the development of MRS in vivo, and their longer-term uses. All the interpretations will be personal, based on what I saw, or discussed with colleagues at the time.

NMR-Based Metabolomics in Cancer Research

Nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy offers reproducible quantitative analysis and structural identification of metabolites in various complex biological samples, such as biofluids (plasma, serum, and urine), cells, tissue extracts, and even intact organs. Therefore, NMR-based metabolomics, a mainstream metabolomic platform, has been extensively applied in many research fields, including pharmacology, toxicology, pathophysiology, nutritional intervention, disease diagnosis/prognosis, and microbiology. In particular, NMR-based metabolomics has been successfully used for cancer research to investigate cancer metabolism and identify biomarker and therapeutic targets. This chapter highlights the innovations and challenges of NMR-based metabolomics platform and its applications in cancer research.

Effects of Clostridium butyricum on growth performance, metabonomics and intestinal microbial differences of weaned piglets

Background

Weaning stress of piglets causes a huge economic loss to the pig industry. Balance and stability of the intestinal microenvironment is an effective way to reduce the occurance of stress during the weaning process. Clostridium butyricum, as a new microecological preparation, is resistant to high temperature, acid, bile salts and some antibiotics. The aim of present study is to investigate the effects of C. butyricum on the intestinal microbiota and their metabolites in weaned piglets.

Results

There was no statistical significance in the growth performance and the incidence of diarrhoea among the weaned piglets treated with C. butyricum during 0–21 days experimental period. Analysis of 16S rRNA gene sequencing results showed that the operational taxonomic units (OTUs), abundance-based coverage estimator (ACE) and Chao index of the CB group were found to be significantly increased compared with the NC group (P < 0.05). Bacteroidetes, Firmicutes and Tenericutes were the predominant bacterial phyla in the weaned piglets. A marked increase in the relative abundance of Megasphaera, Ruminococcaceae_NK4A214_group and Prevotellaceae_UCG-003, along with a decreased relative abundance of Ruminococcaceae_UCG-005 was observed in the CB group, when compared with the NC group (P < 0.05). With the addition of C. butyricum, a total of twenty-two significantly altered metabolites were obtained in the feces of piglets. The integrated pathway analysis by MetaboAnalyst indicated that arginine and proline metabolism; valine, leucine and isoleucine biosynthesis; and phenylalanine metabolism were the main three altered pathways, based on the topology. Furthermore, Spearman’s analysis revealed some altered gut microbiota genus such as Oscillospira, Ruminococcaceae_NK4A214_group, Megasphaera, Ruminococcaceae_UCG-005, Prevotella_2, Ruminococcaceae_UCG-002, Rikenellaceae_RC9_gut_group and Prevotellaceae_UCG-003 were associated with the alterations in the fecal metabolites (P < 0.05), indicating that C. butyricum presented a potential protective impact through gut microbiota. The intestinal metabolites changed by C. butyricum mainly involved the variation of citrulline, dicarboxylic acids, branched-chain amino acid and tryptophan metabolic pathways.

Conclusions

Overall, this study strengthens the idea that the dietary C. butyricum treatment can significantly alter the intestinal microbiota and metabolite profiles of the weaned piglets, and C. butyricum can offer potential benefits for the gut health.

Use of amantadine as substrate for SSAT-1 activity as a reliable clinical diagnostic assay for breast and lung cancer

Aim:

Spermidine/spermine N¹-acetyltransferase (SSAT-1) plays a critical role in cell growth, proliferation and death, and is known to be activated in human cancer cells. Amantadine, a US FDA-approved antiviral drug, is a substrate for SSAT-1 and can be used to indirectly measure SSAT-1 activity because of its conversion to acetylamantadine (AA). This study was undertaken to further validate SSAT-1 activity in breast and lung cancer patients.

Results:

An increase in the urinary concentration of AA in lung and breast cancer patients was observed. The 0–2 h collection time point was determined to be optimal in revealing significant differences in urinary AA concentration between healthy controls and cancer patients.

Conclusion:

The high urine concentration of AA could be used as a simple and useful test for the detection of breast and lung cancer.

This study describes a novel noninvasive urine test for detecting and screening of breast and lung cancer using a safe and approved drug called amantadine. Higher concentration of the acetylated form of amantadine in the urine are detectable in the urine of both breast and lung cancer patients as compared with healthy adult volunteers. This test is simple and may serve as a useful tool for determining the presence of breast and lung cancer.

Spermidine/spermine N1-acetyltransferase-1 as a diagnostic biomarker in human cancer

Aim:

SSAT-1 is an enzyme that plays a critical role in cell growth. Amantadine, a FDA-approved antiviral drug, is a substrate for SSAT-1. The utility of amantadine as an agent to demonstrate elevated SSAT-1 activity linked to cancer was conducted.

Results:

High levels of SSAT-1 expression were measured in tumor human cell lines, and in breast, prostate and lung tumor tissue. An increase in the urinary levels of acetylated amantadine in cancer patients was observed.

Conclusion:

Increases in SSAT-1 contents in tumor tissue could be of value in targeting cancers with high SSAT-1 expression for confirmation/quantification. The high levels of acetylated amantadine could be used as a simple and useful screening test for the presence of cancer.

In response to cancer, cells tend to overproduce specific enzymes as a self-defense mechanism. By using a safe and reliable method to capture and measure the excess enzyme spermidine/spermine N1-acetyltransferase-1, the presence of cancer can be established. This study describes a novel approach of detecting and screening cancer noninvasively in the urine of cancer patients using a safe and approved drug called amantadine that acts as a smart-tracking agent. Higher levels of the acetylated form of amantadine are detectable in the urine of cancer patients, which may serve as a detection tool. In addition, increases in the amount of spermidine/spermine N1-acetyltransferase-1 in tumor tissue may provide a tool for determining the presence of cancer during pathology assessment.