Time-Dependent Effect of Sciatic Nerve Injury on Rat Plasma Lipidome

Abstract

Neuropathic pain is a condition affecting the quality of life of a substantial part of the population, but biomarkers and treatment options are still limited. While this type of pain is caused by nerve damage, in which lipids play key roles, lipidome alterations related to nerve injury remain poorly studied. Here, we assessed blood lipidome alterations in a common animal model, the rat sciatic nerve crush injury. We analyzed alterations in blood lipid abundances between seven rats with nerve injury (NI) and eight control (CL) rats in a time-course experiment. For these rats, abundances of 377 blood lipid species were assessed at three distinct time points: immediately after, two weeks, and five weeks post injury. Although we did not detect significant differences between NI and CL at the first two time points, 106 lipids were significantly altered in NI five weeks post injury. At this time point, we found increased levels of triglycerides (TGs) and lipids containing esterified palmitic acid (16:0) in the blood plasma of NI animals. Lipids containing arachidonic acid (20:4), by contrast, were significantly decreased after injury, aligning with the crucial role of arachidonic acid reported for NI. Taken together, these results indicate delayed systematic alterations in fatty acid metabolism after nerve injury, potentially reflecting nerve tissue restoration dynamics.

Multi Omics Applications in Biological Systems

“…It has also been described that there are changes in the lipidomic profiles of bioactive lipids in plasma and CSF, as well as in specific anatomical regions of the brain associated with the pathological characteristics of AD and Parkinson’s disease [ 142 ]. Significant alterations in plasma lipids have also been described in rats and mice with spinal cord and sciatic nerve injury, which indicates that lipid metabolism could be related to the recovery and/or damage processes following nerve injury [ 143 , 144 ]. The application of lipidomics to disorders associated with metabolic syndrome has been widely described.…”