Chen Xiangwa, Gu Xiujuan, Yang Jie, Jiang Zhengfang, Deng Jianjun
Department of Clinical Laboratory, The Affiliated Hospital of Southwest Medical University, Luzhou, 646000 China.
Sichuan Mianyang 404 Hospital, Mianyang, 621000 China.
Chromatographia. 2023;86(2):175-183. doi: 10.1007/s10337-022-04222-3. Epub 2023 Jan 25.
SARS-CoV-2 infection in the human body induces a severe storm of inflammatory factors. However, its specific mechanism is still not clear. Gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) technology is expected to explain the possible mechanism of the disease by detecting differential metabolites. 15 COVID-19 patients and healthy controls were included in this study. Immune indicators such as hs CRP and cytokines were detected to reflect the level of inflammation in patients with COVID-19. The distribution of lymphocytes and subpopulations in peripheral whole blood were detected using flow cytometry to assess the immune function of COVID-19 patients. The expression of differential metabolites in serum was analyzed using GC-MS non-targeted metabolomics. The results showed that hs CRP, IL-5/6/8/10 and IFN-α in the serum of COVID-19 patients increased to varying degrees, and CD3/4/8 T lymphocytes decreased. Additionally, 53 metabolites in the serum of COVID-19 patients were up regulated, 18 metabolites were down regulated, and 8 metabolites remained unchanged. Increased Cholesterol, Lactic Acid and 1-Monopalmitin may be the mechanism that causes excessive inflammation in COVID-19 patients. The increase of D-Allose may be involved in the process of lymphocyte decrease. In conclusion, the significance of our study is to reveal the possible mechanism of inflammatory response in patients with COVID-19 from the perspective of metabolomics. This provided a new idea for the treatment of COVID-19.
严重急性呼吸综合征冠状病毒2（SARS-CoV-2）感染人体会引发严重的炎症因子风暴。然而，其具体机制仍不清楚。气相色谱-质谱联用（GC-MS）技术有望通过检测差异代谢物来解释该疾病的可能机制。本研究纳入了15例新型冠状病毒肺炎（COVID-19）患者和健康对照。检测超敏C反应蛋白（hs CRP）等免疫指标及细胞因子以反映COVID-19患者的炎症水平。采用流式细胞术检测外周全血中淋巴细胞及其亚群的分布，以评估COVID-19患者的免疫功能。运用GC-MS非靶向代谢组学分析血清中差异代谢物的表达。结果显示，COVID-19患者血清中的hs CRP、白细胞介素-5/6/8/10和干扰素-α（IFN-α）不同程度升高，并出现CD3/4/8 T淋巴细胞减少。此外，COVID-19患者血清中有53种代谢物上调，18种代谢物下调，8种代谢物无变化。胆固醇、乳酸和1-单棕榈酸的增加可能是导致COVID-19患者炎症过度的机制。D-阿洛糖的增加可能参与了淋巴细胞减少的过程。总之，本研究的意义在于从代谢组学角度揭示COVID-19患者炎症反应的可能机制，为COVID-19的治疗提供了新思路。
