Reconstructed Genome-Scale Metabolic Model Characterizes Adaptive Metabolic Flux Changes in Peripheral Blood Mononuclear Cells in Severe COVID-19 Patients

Abstract

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) poses a mortal threat to human health. The elucidation of the relationship between peripheral immune cells and the development of inflammation is essential for revealing the pathogenic mechanism of COVID-19 and developing related antiviral drugs. The immune cell metabolism-targeting therapies exhibit a desirable anti-inflammatory effect in some treatment cases. In this study, based on differentially expressed gene (DEG) analysis, a genome-scale metabolic model (GSMM) was reconstructed by integrating transcriptome data to characterize the adaptive metabolic changes in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) in severe COVID-19 patients. Differential flux analysis revealed that metabolic changes such as enhanced aerobic glycolysis, impaired oxidative phosphorylation, fluctuating biogenesis of lipids, vitamins (folate and retinol), and nucleotides played important roles in the inflammation adaptation of PBMCs. Moreover, the main metabolic enzymes such as the solute carrier (SLC) family 2 member 3 (SLC2A3) and fatty acid synthase (FASN), responsible for the reactions with large differential fluxes, were identified as potential therapeutic targets. Our results revealed the inflammation regulation potentials of partial metabolic reactions with differential fluxes and their metabolites. This study provides a reference for developing potential PBMC metabolism-targeting therapy strategies against COVID-19.

Predicting Critically Ill Patients Outcome in the ICU using UHPLC-HRMS Data

“…In line with the current study, other authors have reported similar findings concerning the 13 metabolites highlighted by the PCA' loadings. Tang et al [11], for example, reported a down-regulation of (3R,5S)-1-pyrroline-3-hydroxy-5carboxylate, a metabolite involved in the arginine and proline metabolism, among severe coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) patients in comparison to healthy controls. (R)mevalonate down-regulation in deceased patients can be indicative of induced muscle weakness cause by prolonged hospitalization [12].…”