Integrative metabonomics as potential method for diagnosis of thyroid malignancy.
Thyroid nodules can be classified into benign and malignant tumors. However, distinguishing between these two types of tumors can be challenging in clinics. Since malignant nodules require surgical intervention whereas asymptomatic benign tumors do not, there is an urgent need for new techniques that enable accurate diagnosis of malignant thyroid nodules. Here, we used (1)H NMR spectroscopy coupled with pattern recognition techniques to analyze the metabonomes of thyroid tissues and their extracts from thyroid lesion patients (n = 53) and their adjacent healthy thyroid tissues (n = 46). We also measured fatty acid compositions using GC-FID/MS techniques as complementary information. We demonstrate that thyroid lesion tissues can be clearly distinguishable from healthy tissues, and malignant tumors can also be distinguished from the benign tumors based on the metabolic profiles, both with high sensitivity and specificity. In addition, we show that thyroid lesions are accompanied with disturbances of multiple metabolic pathways, including alterations in energy metabolism (glycolysis, lipid and TCA cycle), promotions in protein turnover, nucleotide biosynthesis as well as phosphatidylcholine biosynthesis. These findings provide essential information on the metabolic features of thyroid lesions and demonstrate that metabonomics technology can be potentially useful in the rapid and accurate preoperative diagnosis of malignant thyroid nodules.
CAS Key Laboratory of Magnetic Resonance in Biological Systems, State Key Laboratory of Magnetic Resonance and Atomic and Molecular Physics, National Centre for Magnetic Resonance in Wuhan, Wuhan Institute of Physics and Mathematics, Wuhan, 430071, P.R. China.
Yuan
Y
Tian
Department of Pathology, Union Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, 430022, P.R. China.
Xiu
X
Nie
CAS Key Laboratory of Magnetic Resonance in Biological Systems, State Key Laboratory of Magnetic Resonance and Atomic and Molecular Physics, National Centre for Magnetic Resonance in Wuhan, Wuhan Institute of Physics and Mathematics, Wuhan, 430071, P.R. China.
Shan
S
Xu
Department of Pathology, Union Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, 430022, P.R. China.
Yan
Y
Li
Department of Surgery, Union Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, 430022, P.R. China.
Tao
T
Huang
State Key Laboratory of Genetic Engineering, Collaborative Innovation Center for Genetics and Development, Metabolomics and Systems Biology Laboratory, School of Life Sciences, Fudan University, Shanghai, 200433, P.R. China.
Huiru
H
Tang
CAS Key Laboratory of Magnetic Resonance in Biological Systems, State Key Laboratory of Magnetic Resonance and Atomic and Molecular Physics, National Centre for Magnetic Resonance in Wuhan, Wuhan Institute of Physics and Mathematics, Wuhan, 430071, P.R. China.|Collaborative Innovation Center for Diagnosis and Treatment of Infectious Diseases, Hangzhou, 310058, P.R. China.
Yulan
Y
Wang
D003937:Diagnosis, Differential; D006019:Glycolysis / Q000235:genetics; D006801:Humans; D053858:Metabolic Networks and Pathways / Q000235:genetics; D055432:Metabolomics; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology; D019906:Nuclear Magnetic Resonance, Biomolecular; D010713:Phosphatidylcholines / Q000096:biosynthesis / Q000378:metabolism; D013961:Thyroid Gland / Q000473:pathology; D013964:Thyroid Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology; D016606:Thyroid Nodule / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology
D010713:Phosphatidylcholines