A search for novel markers of alcohol abuse using magnetic beads and MALDI‐TOF/TOF mass spectrometry

Abstract

Objective markers are required to assess excessive alcohol consumption, which can lead to a various medical and social problems. In this study, we carried out serum peptidome analyses using the ClinProt(™) system, which consists of magnetic beads and MALDI-TOF/TOF MS, to find novel biomarkers of alcohol abuse in 16 chronic alcoholic patients that were hospitalized for a rehabilitation program. A total of 22 peaks were found to be significantly altered during abstinence. Out of these 22 peaks, 3 peaks that had an m/z of 3000 or less and substantial peak intensities were subjected to MS/MS analysis followed by a MASCOT search. The 1466 Da and the 1616 Da peptides were upregulated on admission and were identified as fragments of fibrinopeptide A and phosphorylated fibrinopeptide A, respectively. On the other hand, the 2660 Da peptide, which was downregulated on admission and increased during abstinence, was identified as a fragment of the fibrinogen α C chain. These peaks were not detectable by the SELDI-TOF MS ProteinChip(®) system analysis. The alterations in these peaks induced by alcohol abuse were also seen in γ glutamyltransferase nonresponders. These protein fragments may be additional biomarkers for excessive alcohol drinking.

Increased Concentrations of Apo A-I and Apo A-II Fragments in the Serum of Patients With Hepatocellular Carcinoma by Magnetic Beads–Assisted MALDI-TOF Mass Spectrometry

“…28 This technique has been used for identification and pattern recognition in various disease conditions, such as brain tumor 28 and oral cancer. 41 We also have used this technology and reported novel markers for multiple sclerosis, 30 alcoholism, 31 and gastric cancer. 32 In this study, serum samples were fractionated using magnetic beads coated with WCX chromatography resins, followed by profiling of the mass spectral patterns of serum samples from 16 patients with HCC and 15 with cirrhosis as a training set.…”

“…Compared with the SELDI-TOF MS ProteinChip system, the cost is low and one can proceed to further protein identification relatively easily. We have used this system (ClinProt, Bruker Daltonics, Bremen, Germany) and have so far found some helpful biomarkers for multiple sclerosis, 30 alcoholism, 31 and gastric cancer. 32 Here, we took advantage of the ClinProt system and searched for novel markers for HCC.…”

Identification of a high molecular weight kininogen fragment as a marker for early gastric cancer by serum proteome analysis

“…In comparison with the SELDI-TOF MS ProteinChip Ò system, the cost of the abovementioned system is low and further protein identification is relatively easy. We recently took advantage of the new ClinProt TM (Bruker Daltonics, Bremen, Germany) system and detected another biomarker for alcohol abuse, which was not detectable using the SELDI system [13].…”

Establishment and application of a high-quality comparative analysis strategy for the discovery and small-scale validation of low-abundance biomarker peptides in serum based on an optimized novel peptide extraction method

“…Serum/plasma contains thousands of different types of proteins and peptides [1][2][3][4][5] and can provide valuable information about the numerous processes that take place within the body. Quantitative analysis of the proteins/peptides in serum/plasma samples is frequently employed in research aimed at discovering disease-specific biomarkers useful for the early detection of disease, for predicting drug susceptibility, and for evaluating prognosis [6][7][8][9] .…”