title: Serum Metabolic Profiling Reveals Altered Metabolic Pathways in Patients with Post-traumatic Cognitive Impairments.
abstract: Cognitive impairment, the leading cause of traumatic brain injury (TBI)-related disability, adversely affects the quality of life of TBI patients, and exacts a personal and economic cost that is difficult to quantify. The underlying pathophysiological mechanism is currently unknown, and an effective treatment of the disease has not yet been identified. This study aimed to advance our understanding of the mechanism of disease pathogenesis; thus, metabolomics based on gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC-MS), coupled with multivariate and univariate statistical methods were used to identify potential biomarkers and the associated metabolic pathways of post-TBI cognitive impairment. A biomarker panel consisting of nine serum metabolites (serine, pyroglutamic acid, phenylalanine, galactose, palmitic acid, arachidonic acid, linoleic acid, citric acid, and 2,3,4-trihydroxybutyrate) was identified to be able to discriminate between TBI patients with cognitive impairment, TBI patients without cognitive impairment and healthy controls. Furthermore, associations between these metabolite markers and the metabolism of amino acids, lipids and carbohydrates were identified. In conclusion, our study is the first to identify several serum metabolite markers and investigate the altered metabolic pathway that is associated with post-TBI cognitive impairment. These markers appear to be suitable for further investigation of the disease mechanisms of post-TBI cognitive impairment.
authors.affiliation: Yunnan Food Safety Research Institute, Kunming University of Science and Technology, 650500, Kunming, China.
authors.forename: Lunzhao
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Yi
authors.affiliation: Research Center of Modernization of Traditional Chinese Medicines, College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Central South University, 410083,Changsha, China.
authors.forename: Shuting
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Shi
authors.affiliation: Institute of Integrated Medicine, Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Changsha 410008, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Yang
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Institute of Integrated Medicine, Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Changsha 410008, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Wei
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Huang
authors.affiliation: Institute of Integrated Medicine, Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Changsha 410008, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Zi-An
authors.initials: ZA
authors.lastname: Xia
authors.affiliation: Institute of Integrated Medicine, Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Changsha 410008, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Zhihua
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Xing
authors.affiliation: Department of Integrated Chinese and Western Medicine, The Second Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Changsha 410011, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Weijun
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Peng
authors.affiliation: Department of Integrated Chinese and Western Medicine, The Second Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Changsha 410011, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Zhe
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Wang
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000070642:Brain Injuries, Traumatic / Q000150:complications*; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D060825:Cognitive Dysfunction / Q000209:etiology* / Q000378:metabolism*; D019295:Computational Biology / Q000379:methods; D005260:Female; D008401:Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D053858:Metabolic Networks and Pathways; D055442:Metabolome; D055432:Metabolomics / Q000379:methods; D008875:Middle Aged; D055815:Young Adult