Objective3-iodothyronamine (T1AM), an analog of thyroid hormone, is a recently discovered fast-acting endogenous metabolite. High single dose treatments of T1AM have produced rapid short-term effects, including a reduction of body temperature, bradycardia, and hyperglycemia in mice.Design and MethodsThe present study monitored the effect of daily low doses of T1AM (10mg/Kg) for eight-days on weight loss and metabolism in spontaneously overweight mice. The experiments were repeated twice (n=4). Nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy of plasma and real-time analysis of exhaled 13CO2 in breath by cavity ringdown spectroscopy (CRDS) were used to detect T1M-induced lipolysis.ResultsCRDS detected increased lipolysis in breath shortly after T1AM administration that was associated with a significant weight loss but independent of food consumption. NMR spectroscopy revealed alterations in key metabolites in serum: valine, glycine, and 3-hydroxybutyrate, suggesting that the subchronic effects of T1AM include both lipolysis and protein breakdown. After discontinuation of T1AM treatment, mice regained only 1.8% of the lost weight in the following two weeks, indicating lasting effects of T1AM on weight maintenance.ConclusionsCRDS in combination with NMR and 13C-metabolic tracing constitute a powerful method of investigation in obesity studies for identifying in vivo biochemical pathway shifts and unanticipated debilitating side effects.

OBJECTIVE Metabolomics is the study of a unique fingerprint of small molecules present in biological systems under healthy and disease conditions. One of the major challenges in metabolomics is validation of fingerprint molecules to identify specifically perturbed pathways in metabolic aberrations. This step is crucial to the understanding of budding metabolic pathologies and the ability to identify early indicators of common diseases such as obesity, diabetes mellitus type II, metabolic syndrome, polycystic ovary syndrome, and cancer. We present a novel approach to diagnosing aberrations in glucose utilization including metabolic pathway switching in a disease state. METHODS We used a well-defined prenatally exposed glucocorticoid mouse model that results in adult females with metabolic dysfunction. We applied the complementary technologies of nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy, and cavity ringdown spectroscopy to analyze serial plasma samples and real-time breath measurements following selective 13C-isotope assisted labeling (SIAL). These platforms allowed us to trace metabolic markers in whole animals and identify key metabolic pathway switching in prenatally glucocorticoid-treated animals. RESULTS Total glucose flux is significantly proportionally increased through the major oxidative pathways of glycolysis and the pentose phosphate pathway in the prenatally glucocorticoid-treated animals relative to the control animals. CONCLUSION This novel diagnostics approach is fast, non-invasive and sensitive for determining specific pathway utilization, and provides a direct translational application in the healthcare field.

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Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) is associated with metabolic and endocrine disorders in women of reproductive age. The etiology of PCOS is still unknown. Mice prenatally treated with glucocorticoids exhibit metabolic disturbances that are similar to those seen in women with PCOS. We used an untargeted nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR)-based metabolomics approach to understand the metabolic changes occurring in the plasma and kidney over time in female glucocorticoid-treated (GC-treated) mice. There are significant changes in plasma amino acid levels (valine, tyrosine, and proline) and their intermediates (2-hydroxybutyrate, 4-aminobutyrate, and taurine), whereas in kidneys, the TCA cycle metabolism (citrate, fumarate, and succinate) and the pentose phosphate (PP) pathway products (inosine and uracil) are significantly altered (p < 0.05) from 8 to 16 weeks of age. Levels of NADH, NAD(+), NAD(+)/NADH, and NADH redox in kidneys indicate increased mitochondrial oxidative stress from 8 to 16 weeks in GC-treated mice. These results indicate that altered metabolic substrates in the plasma and kidneys of treated mice are associated with altered amino acid metabolism, increased cytoplasmic PP, and increased mitochondrial activity, leading to a more oxidized state. This study identifies biomarkers associated with metabolic dysfunction in kidney mitochondria of a prenatal gluococorticoid-treated mouse model of PCOS that may be used as early predictive biomarkers of oxidative stress in the PCOS metabolic disorder in women.