Institute of Biological, Environmental and Rural Science, Aberystwyth University, Aberystwyth, SY23 3DA, Ceredigion, UK.
Centre of Excellence for Bovine Tuberculosis, Aberystwyth University, Ceredigion, SY23 3AR, UK.
Metabolomics. 2022 May 7;18(5):30. doi: 10.1007/s11306-022-01888-6.
The European badger (Meles meles) is a known wildlife reservoir for bovine tuberculosis (bTB) and a better understanding of the epidemiology of bTB in this wildlife species is required for disease control in both wild and farmed animals. Flow infusion electrospray-high-resolution mass spectrometry (FIE-HRMS) may potentially identify novel metabolite biomarkers based on which new, rapid, and sensitive point of care tests for bTB infection could be developed.
In this foundational study, we engaged on assessing the baseline metabolomic variation in the non-bTB infected badger population ("metabotyping") across Wales.
FIE-HRMS was applied on thoracic fluid samples obtained by post-mortem of bTB negative badgers (n = 285) which were part of the Welsh Government 'All Wales Badger Found Dead' study.
Using principal component analysis and partial least squares-discriminant analyses, the major sources of variation were linked to sex, and to a much lesser extent age, as indicated by tooth wear. Within the female population, variation was seen between lactating and non-lactating individuals. No significant variation linked to the presence of bite wounds, obvious lymphatic lesions or geographical region of origin was observed.
Future metabolomic work when making comparisons between bTB infected and non-infected badger samples will only need be sex-matched and could focus on males only, to avoid lactation bias.
欧洲獾（Meles meles）是已知的牛结核病（bTB）野生动物宿主，为了控制野生动物和养殖动物中的疾病，需要更好地了解该野生动物物种中 bTB 的流行病学。流动进样电喷雾-高分辨率质谱（FIE-HRMS）可能基于此识别新型代谢物生物标志物，从而开发新的、快速和敏感的 bTB 感染即时检测方法。
在这项基础研究中，我们评估了威尔士无 bTB 感染獾群体（“代谢分型”）的基线代谢组学变异。
FIE-HRMS 应用于通过对 bTB 阴性獾（n = 285）死后获得的胸腔液样本进行分析，这些獾是威尔士政府“全威尔士死獾”研究的一部分。
通过主成分分析和偏最小二乘判别分析，主要的变异来源与性别有关，其次与年龄有关，这与牙齿磨损有关。在雌性群体中，哺乳期和非哺乳期个体之间存在差异。未观察到与咬痕、明显的淋巴病变或起源地的地理区域有关的显著变异。
在对 bTB 感染和非感染獾样本进行代谢组学比较时，未来的代谢组学工作只需要进行性别匹配，并且可以只关注雄性，以避免哺乳期偏差。
