Sportomics method to assess acute phase proteins in Olympic level athletes using dried blood spots and multiplex assay

Abstract

Sportomics is a subject-centered holistic method similar to metabolomics focusing on sports as the metabolic challenge. Dried blood spot is emerging as a technique due to its simplicity and reproducibility. In addition, mass spectrometry and integrative computational biology enhance our ability to understand exercise-induced modifications. We studied inflammatory blood proteins (Alpha-1-acid glycoprotein—A1AG1; Albumin; Cystatin C; C-reactive protein—CRP; Hemoglobin—HBA; Haptoglobin—HPT; Insulin-like growth factor 1; Lipopolysaccharide binding protein—LBP; Mannose-binding lectin—MBL2; Myeloperoxidase—PERM and Serum amyloid A1—SAA1), in 687 samples from 97 World-class and Olympic athletes across 16 sports in nine states. Data were analyzed with Spearman's rank-order correlation. Major correlations with CRP, LBP; MBL2; A1AG1, and SAA1 were found. The pairs CRP-SAA1 and CRP-LBP appeared with a robust positive correlation. Other pairs, LBP-SAA1; A1AG1-CRP; A1AG1-SAA1; A1AG1-MBL, and A1AG1-LBP, showed a broader correlation across the sports. The protein–protein interaction map revealed 1500 interactions with 44 core proteins, 30 of them linked to immune system processing. We propose that the inflammation follow-up in exercise can provide knowledge for internal cargo management in training, competition, recovery, doping control, and a deeper understanding of health and disease.

A Proteomic Screen to Unravel the Molecular Pathways Associated with Warfarin-Induced or TNAP-Inhibited Arterial Calcification in Rats

“…Interestingly, several studies have shown a correlation between high-intensity/-volume exercise and arterial calcification [ 25 ]. Additionally, (i) marathon runners experience NLRP3 inflammasome-related vascular inflammation [ 26 ], in which UCP1 expression may play a role [ 27 ], and (ii) a strong correlation between the upregulation of acute phase proteins and performing world-class/Olympic sports has been found [ 28 ]. These findings may contribute to a potential explanation for a higher prevalence of arterial calcification in elite athletes.…”

Advancements in clinical approaches, analytical methods, and smart sampling for LC–MS‐based protein determination from dried matrix spots

“…A similar clinical and identical analytical approach is described by Bassani et al. [36] who studied 11 inflammatory blood proteins in almost 100 athletes over 16 different sports. The clinical similarity in these studies is that longitudinal DBS is carried out to monitor rather general proteins to get insight into the biochemical processes of both patients and athletes.…”

“…Additionally, they present a way to perform normalization for variations in the volume caused by the hematocrit (Hct) effect: through measurement of five proteins (albumin, C3, IgM, plasminogen and hemopexin) a scaling factor is introduced which allows internal normalization of the DBS amount [40]. A similar clinical and identical analytical approach is described by Bassani et al [36] who studied 11 inflammatory blood proteins in almost 100 athletes over 16 different sports.…”

Revolutionizing Blood Collection: Innovations, Applications, and the Potential of Microsampling Technologies for Monitoring Metabolites and Lipids

“…In addition, a correlation was suggested between the reduction in TLR4 (Toll-like receptor 4) and the protective effect of exercise in heart diseases. A total of 1500 protein–protein interactions were highlighted in this study and 30 of the 44 core proteins were associated with immune system processing [ 101 ].…”