title: 1H NMR-based metabolomics investigation of copper-laden rat: a model of Wilson's disease.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Wilson's disease (WD), also known as hepatoleticular degeneration (HLD), is a rare autosomal recessive genetic disorder of copper metabolism, which causes copper to accumulate in body tissues. In this study, rats fed with copper-laden diet are used to render the clinical manifestations of WD, and their copper toxicity-induced organ lesions are studied. To investigate metabolic behaviors of 'decoppering' process, penicillamine (PA) was used for treating copper-laden rats as this chelating agent could eliminate excess copper through the urine. To date, there has been limited metabolomics study on WD, while metabolic impacts of copper accumulation and PA administration have yet to be established.
  
  
  METHODS
  A combination of 1HNMR spectroscopy and multivariate statistical analysis was applied to examine the metabolic profiles of the urine and blood serum samples collected from the copper-laden rat model of WD with PA treatment.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Copper accumulation in the copper-laden rats is associated with increased lactate, creatinine, valine and leucine, as well as decreased levels of glucose and taurine in the blood serum. There were also significant changes in p-hydroxyphenylacetate (p-HPA), creatinine, alpha-ketoglutarate (α-KG), dimethylamine, N-acetylglutamate (NAG), N-acetylglycoprotein (NAC) in the urine of these rats. Notably, the changes in p-HPA, glucose, lactate, taurine, valine, leucine, and NAG were found reversed following PA treatment. Nevertheless, there were no changes for dimethylamine, α-KG, and NAC as a result of the treatment. Compared with the controls, the concentrations of hippurate, formate, alanine, and lactate were changed when PA was applied and this is probably due to its side effect. A tool named SMPDB (Small Molecule Pathway Database) is introduced to identify the metabolic pathway influenced by the copper-laden diet.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The study has shown the potential application of NMR-based metabolomic analysis in providing further insights into the molecular mechanism underlying disorder due to WD.
authors: Department of Electronic Science, Fujian Provincial Key Laboratory of Plasma and Magnetic Resonance, Xiamen University, Xiamen, 361005, P. R. China.
authors: Jingjing
authors: J
authors: Xu
authors: Anhui University of Chinese Medicine, Hefei, 230031, P. R. China.
authors: Huaizhou
authors: H
authors: Jiang
authors: Department of Electronic Science, Fujian Provincial Key Laboratory of Plasma and Magnetic Resonance, Xiamen University, Xiamen, 361005, P. R. China.
authors: Jinquan
authors: J
authors: Li
authors: Department of Bioprocess Engineering & Innovation Centre in Agritechnology, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, Johor Bahru, 81310, Malaysia.
authors: Kian-Kai
authors: KK
authors: Cheng
authors: Department of Electronic Science, Fujian Provincial Key Laboratory of Plasma and Magnetic Resonance, Xiamen University, Xiamen, 361005, P. R. China.
authors: Jiyang
authors: J
authors: Dong
authors: Department of Electronic Science, Fujian Provincial Key Laboratory of Plasma and Magnetic Resonance, Xiamen University, Xiamen, 361005, P. R. China.
authors: Zhong
authors: Z
authors: Chen
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002614:Chelating Agents / Q000494:pharmacology; D003300:Copper / Q000633:toxicity*; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D006527:Hepatolenticular Degeneration / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology; D008297:Male; D055442:Metabolome / Q000187:drug effects*; D055432:Metabolomics / Q000379:methods*; D010396:Penicillamine / Q000494:pharmacology; D066244:Proton Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy / Q000379:methods*; D051381:Rats; D017208:Rats, Wistar; D014131:Trace Elements / Q000633:toxicity
chemical_list: D002614:Chelating Agents; D014131:Trace Elements; D003300:Copper; D010396:Penicillamine