Identifying early urinary metabolic changes with long-term environmental exposure to cadmium by mass-spectrometry-based metabolomics.
Cadmium (Cd) is a common environmental pollutant, and urinary Cd (UCd) is generally used as a marker of exposure; however, our understanding on the related urinary metabolic changes caused by Cd exposure is still not clear. In this study, we applied a mass-spectrometry-based metabolomic approach to assess the urinary metabolic changes in human with long-term environmental Cd exposure, aimed to identify early biomarkers to assess Cd nephrotoxicity. Urine samples from 94 female never smokers aged 44-70 with UCd in the range of 0.20-68.67 μg/L were analyzed by liquid chromatography quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometry (LC-Q-ToF-MS) and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS). It was found that metabolites related to amino acid metabolism (L-glutamine, L-cystine, L-tyrosine, N-methyl-L-histidine, L-histidinol, taurine, phenylacetylglutamine, hippurate, and pyroglutamic acid), galactose metabolism (D-galactose and myo-inositol), purine metabolism (xanthine, urea, and deoxyadenosine monophosphate), creatine pathway (creatine and creatinine), and steroid hormone biosynthesis (17-α-hydroxyprogesterone, tetrahydrocortisone, estrone, and corticosterone) were significantly higher among those with a UCd level higher than 5 μg/L. Moreover, we noticed that the level of N-methyl-L-histidine had already started to elevate among individuals with a UCd concentration of ≥2 μg/L. The overall findings illustrate that metabolomics offer a useful approach for revealing metabolic changes as a result of Cd exposure.
Guangdong Provincial Center for Disease Control and Prevention , 160 Qunxian Road, Panyu, Guangzhou, Guangdong 511430, People's Republic of China.
Yanhong
Y
Gao
Yonghai
Y
Lu
Shaomin
S
Huang
Liang
L
Gao
Xuxia
X
Liang
Yongning
Y
Wu
Jing
J
Wang
Qiong
Q
Huang
Liuying
L
Tang
Guian
G
Wang
Fei
F
Yang
Shuguang
S
Hu
Zihui
Z
Chen
Ping
P
Wang
Qi
Q
Jiang
Rui
R
Huang
Yinghua
Y
Xu
Xingfen
X
Yang
Choon Nam
CN
Ong
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D015415:Biomarkers / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism / Q000652:urine; D002104:Cadmium / Q000032:analysis; D002105:Cadmium Poisoning / Q000652:urine*; D004781:Environmental Exposure / Q000032:analysis*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007668:Kidney / Q000187:drug effects; D007674:Kidney Diseases / Q000139:chemically induced* / Q000652:urine*; D013058:Mass Spectrometry / Q000379:methods*; D055442:Metabolome / Q000187:drug effects; D055432:Metabolomics / Q000379:methods*; D008875:Middle Aged
D015415:Biomarkers; D002104:Cadmium