State Key Laboratory for Diagnosis and Treatment of Infectious Diseases, National Clinical Research Center for Infectious Diseases, Collaborative Innovation Center for Diagnosis and Treatment of Infectious Diseases, The First Affiliated Hospital, Zhejiang University School of Medicine, Hangzhou 310003, China.
Jinan Microecological Biomedicine Shandong Laboratory, Jinan 250000, China.
Nutrients. 2023 Jun 30;15(13):2984. doi: 10.3390/nu15132984.
Neovascular age-related macular degeneration (nAMD) is a common and multifactorial disease in the elderly that may lead to irreversible vision loss; yet the pathogenesis of AMD remains unclear. In this study, nontargeted metabolomics profiling using ultra-performance liquid chromatography coupled with Q-Exactive Orbitrap mass spectrometry was applied to discover the metabolic feature differences in both faeces and serum samples between Chinese nonobese subjects with and without nAMD. In faecal samples, a total of 18 metabolites were significantly altered in nAMD patients, and metabolic dysregulations were prominently involved in glycerolipid metabolism and nicotinate and nicotinamide metabolism. In serum samples, a total of 29 differential metabolites were founded, involved in caffeine metabolism, biosynthesis of unsaturated fatty acids, and purine metabolism. Two faecal metabolites (palmitoyl ethanolamide and uridine) and three serum metabolites (4-hydroxybenzoic acid, adrenic acid, and palmitic acid) were selected as potential biomarkers for nAMD. Additionally, the significant correlations among dysregulated neuroprotective, antineuroinflammatory, or fatty acid metabolites in faecal and serum and IM dysbiosis were found. This comprehensive metabolomics study of faeces and serum samples showed that alterations in IM-mediated neuroprotective metabolites may be involved in the pathophysiology of AMD, offering IM-based nutritional therapeutic targets for nAMD.
年龄相关性黄斑变性（AMD）是一种常见的老年多因素疾病，可能导致不可逆转的视力丧失；然而，AMD 的发病机制仍不清楚。在这项研究中，采用超高效液相色谱与 Q-Exactive Orbitrap 质谱联用的非靶向代谢组学分析方法，发现了中国非肥胖 AMD 患者和非 AMD 患者粪便和血清样本中的代谢特征差异。在粪便样本中，nAMD 患者共有 18 种代谢物发生显著改变，代谢失调主要涉及甘油脂代谢和烟酸及烟酰胺代谢。在血清样本中，共发现 29 种差异代谢物，涉及咖啡因代谢、不饱和脂肪酸的生物合成和嘌呤代谢。两种粪便代谢物（棕榈酰乙醇酰胺和尿苷）和三种血清代谢物（4-羟基苯甲酸、花生四烯酸和棕榈酸）被选为 nAMD 的潜在生物标志物。此外，还发现粪便和血清中失调的神经保护、抗神经炎症或脂肪酸代谢物与 IM 失调之间存在显著相关性。这项粪便和血清样本的综合代谢组学研究表明，IM 介导的神经保护代谢物的改变可能与 AMD 的病理生理学有关，为 nAMD 提供了基于 IM 的营养治疗靶点。
