Metabolomics of bronchoalveolar lavage in children with persistent wheezing

Abstract

Background Recent studies have demonstrated the important role of metabolomics in the pathogenesis of asthma. However, the role of lung metabolomics in childhood persistent wheezing (PW) or wheezing recurrence remains poorly understood. Methods In this prospective observational study, we performed a liquid chromatography/mass spectrometry-based metabolomic survey on bronchoalveolar lavage samples collected from 30 children with PW and 30 age-matched infants (control group). A 2-year follow-up study on these PW children was conducted. Results Children with PW showed a distinct characterization of respiratory metabolome compared with control group. Children with PW had higher abundances of choline, oleamide, nepetalactam, butyrylcarnitine, l-palmitoylcarnitine, palmitoylethanolamide, and various phosphatidylcholines. The glycerophospholipid metabolism pathway was the most relevant pathway involving in PW pathophysiologic process. Additionally, different gender, prematurity, and systemic corticoids use demonstrated a greater impact in airway metabolite compositions. Furthermore, for PW children with recurrence during the follow-up period, children who were born prematurely had an increased abundance of butyrylcarnitine relative to those who were carried to term. Conclusions This study suggests that the alterations of lung metabolites could be associated with the development of wheezing, and this early alteration could also be correlated with wheezing recurrence later in life.

Studies on novel biomarkers of myocardial dysfunction caused by adrenaline through metabolomics

“…Tan et al found that serum levels of L-palmitoylcarnitine were signi cantly decreased in a rat model of myocardial infarction 30 . L-palmitoylcarnitine has also been demonstrated to serve as a biomarker for diagnosis and prediction of clinical intrahepatic cholestasis in pregnant patients and those with persistent wheezing 31 . Acetylcarnitine and stearoylcarnitine are also closely related to β-oxidation and were depleted in the serum of epinephrine-treated rats.…”

Cytokines and metabolites are the main descriptors of severe asthma in children when performing multi-omics analysis of bronchoaleveolar lavages

“…To date, metabolomic studies of childhood asthma have been mainly performed on blood, urine, and exhaled breath condensate samples. A study performed in BALs indicated that children with persistent wheezing had higher abundances of choline, oleamide, nepetalactam, butyrylcarnitine, l-palmitoylcarnitine, palmitoylethanolamide, and various phosphatidylcholines [13].…”