Department of Pediatric Gastroenterology and Nutrition, Amsterdam University Medical Centers, Location Academic Medical Center/Emma Children's Hospital, University of Amsterdam.
Amsterdam Reproduction & Development Research Institute, Amsterdam University Medical Centers, Location Academic Medical Center/Emma Children's Hospital.
J Pediatr Gastroenterol Nutr. 2020 Oct;71(4):433-439. doi: 10.1097/MPG.0000000000002875.
Disturbances in lipid metabolism play an important role in the pathogenesis of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). Using lipidomics, an analytical technique that is used to broadly survey lipid metabolism, we searched for biomarkers in plasma that are correlated with the presence of hepatic steatosis in children with obesity.
Lipidomics was performed in plasma samples of 21 children with obesity in whom steatosis was detected using proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy (H-MRS) and were compared with the lipidome of 21 samples of nonsteatotic subjects with obesity.
Forty-two samples were analyzed (57% boys; median age 15 years). A total of 18 lipid classes constituting 839 different lipid species were identified. A statistically significant increase in alkyldiacylglycerol (TG[O]) and phosphatidylethanolamine (PE) species and a significant decrease in alkyl/alkenyl-phosphatidylethanolamine (PE[O]), alkyl/alkenyl-lysophosphatidylethanolamine (LPE[O]) and alkyl/alkenyl-phosphatidylcholine (PC[O]) was observed in children with hepatic steatosis compared with controls. Twelve individual lipid species of 3 lipid classes were significantly increased in steatotic subjects compared with controls.
In this pilot study, we found statistically significant alterations in 5 major lipid classes and 12 individual lipid species in children with steatosis. These might be potential biomarkers for pediatric NAFLD. Lipidomic studies in larger cohorts of children are needed to determine the diagnostic value of these lipids and determine whether results can be generalized for different age groups and ethnic backgrounds.
脂质代谢紊乱在非酒精性脂肪性肝病（NAFLD）的发病机制中起着重要作用。本研究采用脂质组学这一广泛用于检测脂质代谢的分析技术，旨在寻找与肥胖儿童肝脂肪变性相关的血浆生物标志物。
对 21 例经质子磁共振波谱（H-MRS）检测存在肝脂肪变性的肥胖儿童的血浆样本进行脂质组学分析，并与 21 例非脂肪性肥胖对照者的脂质组进行比较。
共分析了 42 例样本（57%为男性，中位年龄 15 岁）。共鉴定出 18 种脂质类，包含 839 种不同的脂质分子。与对照组相比，肝脂肪变性患儿的烷基二酰基甘油（TG[O]）和磷脂酰乙醇胺（PE）的脂质分子明显增加，而烷基/烯基磷脂酰乙醇胺（PE[O]）、烷基/烯基溶血磷脂酰乙醇胺（LPE[O]）和烷基/烯基磷脂酰胆碱（PC[O]）的脂质分子明显减少。与对照组相比，12 种特定的 3 种脂质类别的脂质分子在肝脂肪变性患儿中明显增加。
在本研究中，我们发现肝脂肪变性患儿 5 种主要脂质类和 12 种特定脂质分子发生了统计学上的显著改变。这些改变可能是非酒精性脂肪性肝病的潜在生物标志物。需要对更大的儿童队列进行脂质组学研究，以确定这些脂质的诊断价值，并确定其结果是否可推广到不同的年龄组和种族背景。
