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Serum metabolomic patterns in young patients with ischemic stroke: a case study

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Abstract

Background

Ischemic stroke is one of the leading causes of death and adult disability. The incidence of ischemic stroke continues to rise in young adults. This study aimed to provide a comprehensive evaluation of metabolic changes and explore possible mechanisms in young ischemic stroke patients without common risk factors.

Methods

This study investigated serum metabolomics in 50 young patients with newly suffered ischemic stroke and 50 age-, sex-, and body mass index–matched healthy controls. Liquid chromatography coupled with a Waters Xevo TQ-S mass spectrometer with an electrospray ionization (ESI) source was used to analyze amino acid or bile acid, and free fatty acid or lipid was analyzed by liquid chromatography coupled with a Qtrap5500 mass spectrometer with an ESI source. The metabolomic data were analyzed by performing a multivariate statistical analysis.

Results

A total of 197 metabolites, including amino acids, bile acids, free fatty acids, and lipids, were identified in all participants. Multivariate models showed significant differences in serum metabolomic patterns between young patients with ischemic stroke and healthy controls. The stroke patients had increased L-methionine, homocysteine, glutamine, uric acid, GCDCA, and PE (18:0/20:4, 16:0/22:5), and decreased levels of L-citrulline, taurine, PC (16:2/22:6, 16:2/20:5, 15:0/18:2), and SM (d18:1/23:0, d20:0/19:1, d18:1/22:0, d16:0/26:1, d16:0/18:0, d16:0/22:1, d18:1/19:1, d16:0/17:1, d16:1/24:1, d18:1/19:0). Based on the identified metabolites, the metabolic pathways of arginine biosynthesis, glycerophospholipid metabolism, and taurine and hypotaurine metabolism were significantly enriched in the young patients with ischemic stroke.

Conclusions

Serum metabolomic patterns were significantly different between young patients with ischemic stroke and healthy controls. Our study is beneficial in providing a further view into the pathophysiology of young patients with ischemic stroke.

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Abbreviations

BMI:

Body weight index

TC:

Total cholesterol

HDL-C:

High-density lipoprotein cholesterol

LDL-C:

Low-density lipoprotein cholesterol

TG:

Triglycerides

UA:

Uric acid

ESI:

Electrospray ionization

CV:

Coefficients of variation

QC:

Quality control

VIP:

Variable influences on projection

PCA:

Principal component analysis

OPLS-DA:

Orthogonal partial least-squares discriminant analysis

GCDCA:

Glycochenodeoxycholic acid

PE:

Phosphatidylethanolamine

PC:

Phosphatidylcholine

SM:

Sphingomyelin

KEGG:

Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes

NO:

Nitric oxide

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by grants from the Beijing Talents foundation (2018-12) and Capital Funds for Health Improvement and Research (No. 2018-4-2034) to J.L.; and the Chinese National Natural Science Foundation (No. 81770792) and Key Projects of Science and Technology Planning of Beijing Municipal Education Commission (KZ201810025038) to G.W.

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Author notes

  1. Jia Liu and Junliang Yuan have contributed equally to this work.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Endocrinology, Beijing Chaoyang Hospital, Capital Medical University, NO. 8, Gongti South Road, Chaoyang District, Beijing, 100020, China

    Jia Liu, Jingwei Zhao, Lin Zhang, Qiu Wang & Guang Wang

  2. Department of Neurology, Peking University Sixth Hospital, Beijing, 100191, China

    Junliang Yuan

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  1. Jia Liu
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  4. Lin Zhang
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  6. Guang Wang
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Contributions

GW conceived and designed the experiments; JL, JLY, and JWZ performed the experiments; JL, JLY, LZ and QW analyzed and interpreted the patient data; JL and JLY wrote the manuscript; all authors read and approved the final manuscript.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Guang Wang.

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The authors declare that they have no competing interests.

Ethical approval

The study protocol was approved by the Ethics Committee of Beijing Chaoyang Hospital Affiliated with Capital Medical University (application number: 2016-K103).

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Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants involved in the study.

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Liu, J., Yuan, J., Zhao, J. et al. Serum metabolomic patterns in young patients with ischemic stroke: a case study. Metabolomics 17, 24 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11306-021-01774-7

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