1H-NMR Urinary Metabolic Profile, A Promising Tool for the Management of Infants with Human Cytomegalovirus-Infection

Metabolomics Approaches for the Diagnosis, Treatment, and Better Disease Management of Viral Infections

Metabolomics is an analytical approach that involves profiling and comparing the metabolites present in biological samples. This scoping review article offers an overview of current metabolomics approaches and their utilization in evaluating metabolic changes in biological fluids that occur in response to viral infections. Here, we provide an overview of metabolomics methods including high-throughput analytical chemistry and multivariate data analysis to identify the specific metabolites associated with viral infections. This review also focuses on data interpretation and applications designed to improve our understanding of the pathogenesis of these viral diseases.

Systematic Review of NMR-Based Metabolomics Practices in Human Disease Research

Nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy is one of the principal analytical techniques for metabolomics. It has the advantages of minimal sample preparation and high reproducibility, making it an ideal technique for generating large amounts of metabolomics data for biobanks and large-scale studies. Metabolomics is a popular “omics” technology and has established itself as a comprehensive exploratory biomarker tool; however, it has yet to reach its collaborative potential in data collation due to the lack of standardisation of the metabolomics workflow seen across small-scale studies. This systematic review compiles the different NMR metabolomics methods used for serum, plasma, and urine studies, from sample collection to data analysis, that were most popularly employed over a two-year period in 2019 and 2020. It also outlines how these methods influence the raw data and the downstream interpretations, and the importance of reporting for reproducibility and result validation. This review can act as a valuable summary of NMR metabolomic workflows that are actively used in human biofluid research and will help guide the workflow choice for future research.

Serum Metabolomic Analysis Suggests Impairment of Myocardial Energy Production in Takotsubo Syndrome

INTRODUCTION

Takotsubo syndrome is a complex entity that, although it usually has a good prognosis, can be life threatening. While recent advances have improved the knowledge of takotsubo syndrome, many aspects of its etiology still remain uncertain. Metabolomics, a hypothesis generating approach, could provide novel pathophysiology information about this disease.

METHODS AND RESULTS

Serum samples were obtained from takotsubo (n = 19) and acute myocardial infarction patients (n = 8) at the cath lab and, in the case of takotsubo, again once the patient had recovered, 3 months after the main event. ¹H NMR spectra of the serum were acquired at 9.4T using a CPMG pulse sequence (32 ms effective delay). Supervised and unsupervised pattern recognition approaches where applied to the data. Pattern recognition was able to differentiate between takotsubo and acute myocardial infarction during the acute phase with 95% accuracy. Myocardial infarction patients showed an increase in lipid signals, a known risk factor for the disease while takotsubo patients showed a relative increase in acetate that could suggest a reduced turnover of the Krebs cycle. When comparing acute and recovered phases, we could detect an increase in alanine and creatine once patients recovered.

CONCLUSIONS

Our results demonstrate that takotsubo syndrome is metabolically different than AMI, showing limited myocardial energy production capacity during the acute phase. We achieved high classification success against AMI; however, this study should be considered as a proof of concept regarding clinical application of metabolic profiling in takotsubo cardiomyopathy.

Monitoring Methylmalonic Aciduria by NMR Urinomics

The paper reports on monitoring methylmalonic aciduria (MMA)-specific and non-specific metabolites via NMR urinomics. Five patients have been monitored over periods of time; things involved were diet, medication and occasional episodes of failing to comply with prescribed diets. An extended dataset of targeted metabolites is presented, and correlations with the type of MMA are underlined. A survey of previous NMR studies on MMA is also presented.

Metabolomics Applications in Children: A Right Way to Go

Metabolomics is a new science based on the study of the metabolome, representing the set of all the metabolites of a biological organism, which are the final products of its gene expression. Metabolomics appears to be a promising tool in perinatal studies, such as hypoxic–ischemic encephalopathy (HIE), intrauterine growth restriction (IUGR), congenital infections, genetic diseases, neonatal nutrition.

Enhancing Glycolysis Protects against Ischemia-Reperfusion Injury by Reducing ROS Production

After myocardial ischemia-reperfusion, fatty acid oxidation shows fast recovery while glucose oxidation rates remain depressed. A metabolic shift aimed at increasing glucose oxidation has shown to be beneficial in models of myocardial ischemia-reperfusion. However, strategies aimed at increasing glucose consumption in the clinic have provided mixed results and have not yet reached routine clinical practice. A better understanding of the mechanisms underlying the protection afforded by increased glucose oxidation may facilitate the transfer to the clinic. The purpose of this study was to evaluate if the modulation of reactive oxygen species (ROS) was involved in the protection afforded by increased glucose oxidation. Firstly, we characterized an H9C2 cellular model in which the use of glucose or galactose as substrates can modulate glycolysis and oxidative phosphorylation pathways. In this model, there were no differences in morphology, cell number, or ATP and PCr levels. However, galactose-grown cells consumed more oxygen and had an increased Krebs cycle turnover, while cells grown in glucose had increased aerobic glycolysis rate as demonstrated by higher lactate and alanine production. Increased aerobic glycolysis was associated with reduced ROS levels and protected the cells against simulated ischemia-reperfusion injury. Furthermore, ROS scavenger N-acetyl cysteine (NAC) was able to reduce the amount of ROS and to prevent cell death. Lastly, cells grown in galactose showed higher activation of mTOR/Akt signaling pathways. In conclusion, our results provide evidence indicating that metabolic shift towards increased glycolysis reduces mitochondrial ROS production and prevents cell death during ischemia-reperfusion injury.