Imaging and lipidomics methods for lipid analysis in metabolic and cardiovascular disease

Abstract

Cardiometabolic diseases exhibit changes in lipid biology, which is important as lipids have critical roles in membrane architecture, signalling, hormone synthesis, homoeostasis and metabolism. However, Developmental Origins of Health and Disease studies of cardiometabolic disease rarely include analysis of lipids. This short review highlights some examples of lipid pathology and then explores the technology available for analysing lipids, focussing on the need to develop imaging modalities for intracellular lipids. Analytical methods for studying interactions between the complex endocrine and intracellular signalling pathways that regulate lipid metabolism have been critical in expanding our understanding of how cardiometabolic diseases develop in association with obesity and dietary factors. Biochemical methods can be used to generate detailed lipid profiles to establish links between lifestyle factors and metabolic signalling pathways and determine how changes in specific lipid subtypes in plasma and homogenized tissue are associated with disease progression. New imaging modalities enable the specific visualization of intracellular lipid traffic and distribution in situ. These techniques provide a dynamic picture of the interactions between lipid storage, mobilization and signalling, which operate during normal cell function and are altered in many important diseases. The development of methods for imaging intracellular lipids can provide a dynamic real-time picture of how lipids are involved in complex signalling and other cell biology pathways; and how they ultimately regulate metabolic function/homoeostasis during early development. Some imaging modalities have the potential to be adapted for in vivo applications, and may enable the direct visualization of progression of pathogenesis of cardiometabolic disease after poor growth in early life.

On the Road to Accurate Biomarkers for Cardiometabolic Diseases by Integrating Precision and Gender Medicine Approaches

“…Indeed, lipid imbalance is closely associated with CMD, such as atherosclerosis, obesity, diabetes, and Alzheimer’s disease. Lipidomics or lipid profiling is a lipid-targeted metabolomics approach based on a complete analysis of lipids in biological systems [58]. Several distinct metabolic pathways potentially involved in lipoprotein metabolism in both healthy and disease states (obesity, insulin resistance, and fatty liver disease), as well as under lifestyle and dietary modification (fish consumption, carbohydrates, and probiotics) and lipid-modifying treatments (statins and low-density lipoprotein apheresis) have been recently discovered.…”

“…Several distinct metabolic pathways potentially involved in lipoprotein metabolism in both healthy and disease states (obesity, insulin resistance, and fatty liver disease), as well as under lifestyle and dietary modification (fish consumption, carbohydrates, and probiotics) and lipid-modifying treatments (statins and low-density lipoprotein apheresis) have been recently discovered. In addition, a detailed characterization of lipid classes and molecular species present in plasma, as well as in lipoprotein fractions, has been recently obtained [57,58]. This suggests that lipidomics (for example, plasma lipoprotein) analysis together with other omics investigations, such as metabolomics, have enabled obtaining molecular specifics of the lipoprotein composition, which can be translated into an integrated knowledge of the structure, metabolism, and function of lipoproteins in CMD, and consequently, into appropriate biomarkers.…”

The Lipid-related Effects of Resveratrol on Human Ectopic Endometrial Stromal Cells and a Rat Model of Endometriosis

“…Recently, lipidomics analysis has been widely used to assess lipid homeostasis in various tissue samples (13,14). In such studies, elevated levels of SM, PC and TG were identi ed in serum samples of OMA patients (15).…”

Australian Perspectives: Outcomes from the 2016 ANZ DOHaD Scientific Meeting

“…Stevens et al . provide a timely review of current techniques for the measurement of lipids for metabolic and cardiovascular disease, a knowledge gap in the DOHaD field 8 . The short review covers biochemical methods, imaging modalities including in vitro and the opportunity for further development of in vivo imaging technologies to allow longitudinal monitoring of cardiometabolic diseases.…”