Atrial fibrillation (AF) is a prevalent clinical arrhythmia
characterized by an irregular cardiac rhythm, increasing the risk of
developing stroke and heart failure. In order to explore the potential
role of serum indicators, the study employed a combination of targeted
metabolomics and Tandem Mass Tag (TMT) based proteomics to examine
metabolic characteristics and biomarkers in the serum of patients with
AF. Furthermore, the verification of protein expressions with diagnostic
significance for AF was conducted in patients of larger sample sizes by
ELISA. Proteomics and metabolomics identified 174 differentially
expressed proteins (DEPs) and 294 differentially metabolites (DMs) in AF
patients, respectively. The clustering and functional enrichment
analysis identified the complement and coagulation cascade as the
primary pathway dysregulating DEPs. According to the integrated study,
the most enriched proteomics and metabolomics pathways were platelet
activation and cholesterol metabolism. lactate dehydrogenase A (LDHA),
lactate dehydrogenase B (LDHB), and transgelin 2 (TAGLN2) were
significantly expressed in AF patients, while plasminogen (PLG) was low.
In conclusion, the current study found that platelet activation,
cholesterol metabolism, and the complement and coagulation cascade
pathways may affect AF progression. The study also showed that LDHA,
LDHB, TAGLN2, and PLG may be potential AF biomarkers.