PCare Laboratory, Fondazione Istituto di Ricerca Pediatrica, 'Città della Speranza', Padua, Italy.
Department of Women's and Children's Health, University of Padua, Padua, Italy.
J Mass Spectrom. 2022 Feb;57(2):e4808. doi: 10.1002/jms.4808.
Stable isotope tracing can be safely used for metabolic studies in animals and humans. The endogenous biosynthesis of lipids (lipogenesis) is a key process throughout the entire life but especially during brain and lung growth. Adequate synthesis of pulmonary surfactant lipids is indispensable for life. With this study, we report the use of deuterium-depleted water (DDW), suitable for human consumption, as metabolic precursor for lipogenesis. We studied 13 adult rabbits for 5 days. Four rabbits drank tap water (TW) and served as controls; in four animals, DDW was substituted to drinking water, whereas five drank deuterium-enriched water (DEW). After 5 days, a blood sample and a bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) sample were collected. The H/ H (δ H) of BAL palmitic acid (PA) desaturated phosphatidylcholine (DSPC), the major phospholipid of pulmonary surfactant, and of plasma water was determined by high-resolution mass spectrometry. We found that the δ H values of DDW, DEW and TW were -984 ± 2‰, +757 ± 2‰ and -58 ± 1‰, respectively. After 5 days, plasma water values were -467 ± 87‰, +377 ± 56‰ and -53 ± 6‰, and BAL DSPC-PA was -401 ± 27‰, -96 ± 38‰ and -249 ± 9‰ in the DDW, DEW and TW, respectively. With this preliminary study, we demonstrated the feasibility of using DDW to label pulmonary surfactant lipids. This novel approach can be used in animals and in humans, and we speculate that it could be associated with more favourable study compliance than DEW in human studies.
稳定同位素示踪可安全地用于动物和人类的代谢研究。脂质的内源性生物合成（脂肪生成）是整个生命过程中的一个关键过程，尤其是在大脑和肺部生长过程中。肺表面活性剂脂质的充分合成对于生命是不可或缺的。在这项研究中，我们报告了使用氘耗尽水（DDW）作为脂肪生成的代谢前体，DDW 适合人类消费。我们研究了 13 只成年兔子，为期 5 天。4 只兔子饮用自来水（TW）作为对照；在 4 只动物中，饮用水被 DDW 取代，而 5 只动物饮用氘富集水（DEW）。5 天后，采集血样和支气管肺泡灌洗液（BAL）样本。通过高分辨率质谱法测定 BAL 棕榈酸（PA）去饱和磷脂酰胆碱（DSPC）和肺表面活性剂主要磷脂以及血浆水的 H/ H（δ H）。我们发现 DDW、DEW 和 TW 的 δ H 值分别为-984±2‰、+757±2‰和-58±1‰。5 天后，血浆水值分别为-467±87‰、+377±56‰和-53±6‰，BAL DSPC-PA 值分别为-401±27‰、-96±38‰和-249±9‰在 DDW、DEW 和 TW 中。通过这项初步研究，我们证明了使用 DDW 标记肺表面活性剂脂质的可行性。这种新方法可用于动物和人类，我们推测与 DEW 相比，它在人类研究中可能具有更好的研究依从性。
