Plasma metabolomics of schizophrenia with cognitive impairment: A pilot study

Abstract

Schizophrenia (SCZ) acts as a complex and burdensome disease, in which the functional outcome can be validly predicted by cognitive impairment, as one of the core features. However, there still lack considerable markers of cognitive deficits in SCZ. Based on metabolomics, it is expected to identify different metabolic characteristics of SCZ with cognitive impairment. In the present study, 17 SCZ patients with cognitive impairment (CI), 17 matched SCZ patients with cognitive normal (CN), and 20 healthy control subjects (HC) were recruited, whose plasma metabolites were measured using ultra-high performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (UPLC–MS/MS). The result of metabolic profiling indicated the identification of 46 differentially expressed metabolites between HC, CN, and CI groups, with 7 differentially expressed metabolites between CN and CI groups. Four differential metabolites (imidazolepropionic acid, Homoserine, and Aspartic acid) were repeatedly found in both screenings, by which the formed biomarker panel could discriminate SCZ with cognitive impairment from matched patients (AUC = 0.974) and health control (AUC = 0.841), respectively. Several significant metabolic pathways were highlighted in pathway analysis, involving Alanine, aspartate and glutamate metabolism, D-glutamine and D-glutamate metabolism, and Citrate cycle (TCA cycle). In this study, several differentially expressed metabolites were identified in SCZ with cognitive impairment, providing novel insights into clinical treatment strategies.

Integrated Module of Multidimensional Omics for Peripheral Biomarkers (iMORE) in patients with major depressive disorder: rationale and design of a prospective multicentre cohort study

“…An increased ratio of hydroxylated sphingomyelins in pretreatment showed a better reduction of symptoms and increased phosphatidylcholine C38:1, in contrast, suggested poorer response; predictions were improved by incorporating metabolites factors 46. Our previous research also supported metabolomics has potential in biomarkers exploration related to the diagnosis and treatment of mental disorders 47 48. In addition, emerging fields, known as epigenomics and microbiome, have shown some degree of association with prognosis 49–52…”

Comparison of fecal and blood metabolome reveals inconsistent associations of the gut microbiota with cardiometabolic diseases

“…We performed targeted metabolomics profiling for fecal and serum samples by an ultra-performance liquid chromatography coupled to tandem mass spectrometry (UPLC-MS/MS) system (ACQUITY UPLC-Xevo TQ-S, Waters Corp., Milford, MA, 570 USA). The Q300 Kit provided by Metabo-Profile Corp. (Shanghai, China), coving up to 310 metabolites and 12 biochemical classes, was used for targeted metabolomics profiling, which was commonly used in several recent studies [43][44][45] . It mainly includes known gut microbiota-derived metabolites including SCFAs, bile acids, indoles, etc.…”

A preliminary metabolomics study of the database for biological samples of schizophrenia among Chinese ethnic minorities

“…Imbalances in the cystine/glutamate ratio can lead to physiological disorders [ 30 ]. This study also found elevated glutamate levels in both Miao and Han SCZ patients [ 31 ], suggesting a more significant change in the cystine/glutamate ratio among the Miao population [ 32 ]. This raises the question of whether there is an ethnic difference in the expression of the cystine/glutamate antiporter, warranting further exploration.…”