Center for Organ Transplantation, Third Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Changsha, 410013, Hunan, China.
Key Laboratory of Translational Research in Transplantion Medicine of National Health Commission, Third Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Changsha, 410013, Hunan, China.
Parasit Vectors. 2024 Aug 20;17(1):350. doi: 10.1186/s13071-024-06429-9.
Schistosomiasis is still one of the most serious parasitic diseases. Evidence showed that the metabolite profile in serum can potentially act as a marker for parasitic disease diagnosis and evaluate disease progression and prognosis. However, the serum metabolome in patients with Schistosoma japonicum infection is not well defined. In this study, we investigated the metabolite profiles of patients with chronic and with advanced S. japonicum infection.
The sera of 33 chronic S. japonicum patients, 15 patients with advanced schistosomiasis and 17 healthy volunteers were collected. Samples were extracted for metabolites and analyzed with ultra-performance liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (UPLC-MS).
We observed significant differences in metabolite profiles in positive and negative ion modes between patients with advanced and chronic S. japonicum infection. In patients with chronic S. japonicum infection, 199 metabolites were significantly upregulated while 207 metabolites were downregulated in advanced infection. These differential metabolites were mainly concentrated in steroid hormone biosynthesis, cholesterol metabolism and bile secretion pathways. We also found that certain bile acid levels were significantly upregulated in the progression from chronic to advanced S. japonicum infection. In receiver operator characteristic (ROC) analysis, we identified three metabolites with area under the curve (AUC) > 0.8, including glycocholic (GCA), glycochenodeoxycholate (GCDCA) and taurochenodeoxycholic acid (TCDCA) concentrated in cholesterol metabolism, biliary secretion and primary bile acid biosynthesis.
This study provides evidence that GCA, GCDCA and TCDCA can potentially act as novel metabolite biomarkers to distinguish patients in different stages of S. japonicum infection. This study will contribute to the understanding of the metabolite mechanisms of the transition from chronic to advanced S. japonicum infection, although more studies are needed to validate this potential role and explore the underlying mechanisms.
血吸虫病仍然是最严重的寄生虫病之一。有证据表明，血清中的代谢物谱可能作为寄生虫病诊断的标志物，并评估疾病的进展和预后。然而，日本血吸虫感染者的血清代谢组尚未得到很好的定义。在这项研究中，我们研究了慢性和晚期日本血吸虫感染患者的代谢物谱。
收集了 33 例慢性日本血吸虫病患者、15 例晚期血吸虫病患者和 17 名健康志愿者的血清。对样本进行代谢物提取并采用超高效液相色谱-质谱联用技术（UPLC-MS）进行分析。
我们观察到晚期和慢性日本血吸虫感染患者在正离子和负离子模式下的代谢物谱存在显著差异。在慢性日本血吸虫病患者中，199 种代谢物显著上调，而 207 种代谢物下调。这些差异代谢物主要集中在类固醇激素生物合成、胆固醇代谢和胆汁分泌途径。我们还发现，从慢性到晚期日本血吸虫感染的进展过程中，某些胆汁酸水平显著上调。在接受者操作特征（ROC）分析中，我们鉴定出 3 种 AUC>0.8 的代谢物，包括胆酰甘氨酸（GCA）、甘氨胆酸（GCDCA）和牛磺胆酸（TCDCA），它们集中在胆固醇代谢、胆汁分泌和初级胆汁酸生物合成中。
本研究提供了证据表明，GCA、GCDCA 和 TCDCA 可能作为区分日本血吸虫病不同感染阶段患者的新型代谢物生物标志物。虽然需要更多的研究来验证这种潜在作用并探索其潜在机制，但本研究将有助于理解从慢性到晚期日本血吸虫感染的代谢物机制。
