Gas explosion-induced acute blast lung injury assessment and biomarker identification by a LC-MS-based serum metabolomics analysis.

The objective of this study was to evaluate the histopathological effect of gas explosion on rats, and to explore the metabolic alterations associated with gas explosion-induced acute blast lung injury (ABLI) in real roadway environment using metabolomics analyses. All rats were exposed to the gas explosion source at different distance points (160 m and 240 m) except the control group. Respiratory function indexes were monitored and lung tissue analysis was performed to correlate histopathological effect to serum metabolomics. Their sera samples were collected to measure the metabolic alterations by ultra-performance liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (UPLC-MS). HE staining in lung showed that the gas explosion caused obvious inflammatory pulmonary injury, which was consistent with respiratory function monitoring results and the serum metabolomics analysis results. The metabolomics identified 9 significantly metabolites different between the control- and ABLI rats. 2-aminoadipic acid, L-methionine, L-alanine, L-lysine, L-threonine, cholic acid and L-histidine were significantly increased in the exposed groups. Citric acid and aconitic acid were significantly decreased after exposure. Pathway analyses identified 8 perturbed metabolic pathways, which provided novel potential mechanisms for the gas explosion-induced ABLI. Therefore, metabolomics analysis identified both known and unknown alterations in circulating biomarkers, adding an integral mechanistic insight into the gas explosion-induced ABLI in real roadway environment.