title: Pathologic metabolism: an exploratory study of the plasma metabolome of critical injury.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Severe trauma is associated with massive alterations in metabolism. Thus far, investigations have relied on traditional bioanalytic approaches including calorimetry or nuclear magnetic resonance. However, recent strides in mass spectrometry (MS)-based metabolomics present enhanced analytic opportunities to characterize a wide range of metabolites in the critical care setting.
  
  
  METHODS
  MS-based metabolomics analyses were performed on plasma samples from severely injured patients' trauma activation field blood and plasma samples obtained during emergency department thoracotomy. These were compared against the metabolic profiles of healthy controls.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Few significant alterations were observed between trauma activation field blood and emergency department thoracotomy patients. In contrast, we identified trauma-dependent metabolic signatures, which support a state of hypercatabolism, driven by sugar consumption, lipolysis and fatty acid use, accumulation of ketone bodies, proteolysis and nucleoside breakdown, which provides carbon and nitrogen sources to compensate for trauma-induced energy consumption and negative nitrogen balance. Unexpectedly, metabolites of bacterial origin (including tricarballylate and citramalate) were detected in plasma from trauma patients.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  In the future, the correlation between metabolomics adaptation and recovery outcomes could be studied by MS-based approaches, and this work can provide a method for assessing the efficacy of alternative resuscitation strategies.
authors: From the Departments of Surgery/Trauma Research Center (E.D.P., E.E.M., T.C., A.B., C.C.S.), Biochemistry and Molecular Genetics (A.D., K.C.H.), and Health Care Policy and Research (A.S.), Anschutz Medical Campus, and Department of Pediatrics-Haematology/Oncology (C.C.S.), Anschutz Medical Campus-Children's Hospital Colorado, School of Medicine, University of Colorado Denver; and Department of Surgery (E.E.M.), Denver Health Medical Center, Aurora; and Belle Bonfils Blood Center (C.C.S.), Denver Colorado.
authors: Erik D
authors: ED
authors: Peltz
authors: Angelo
authors: A
authors: D'Alessandro
authors: Ernest E
authors: EE
authors: Moore
authors: Theresa
authors: T
authors: Chin
authors: Christopher C
authors: CC
authors: Silliman
authors: Angela
authors: A
authors: Sauaia
authors: Kirk C
authors: KC
authors: Hansen
authors: Anirban
authors: A
authors: Banerjee
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D015601:Injury Severity Score; D008297:Male; D013058:Mass Spectrometry; D055442:Metabolome / Q000502:physiology*; D055432:Metabolomics / Q000379:methods*; D010865:Pilot Projects; D013908:Thoracotomy; D014947:Wounds and Injuries / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000628:therapy