title: Untargeted metabolomics of colonic digests reveals kynurenine pathway metabolites, dityrosine and 3-dehydroxycarnitine as red versus white meat discriminating metabolites.
abstract: Epidemiological research has demonstrated that the consumption of red meat is an important risk factor for the development of colorectal cancer (CRC), diabetes mellitus and cardiovascular diseases. However, there is no holistic insight in the (by-) products of meat digestion that may contribute to disease development. To address this hiatus, an untargeted mass spectrometry (MS)-based metabolomics approach was used to create red versus white meat associated metabolic fingerprints following in vitro colonic digestion using the fecal inocula of ten healthy volunteers. Twenty-two metabolites were unequivocally associated with simulated colonic digestion of red meat. Several of these metabolites could mechanistically be linked to red meat-associated pathways including N'-formylkynurenine, kynurenine and kynurenic acid (all involved in tryptophan metabolism), the oxidative stress marker dityrosine, and 3-dehydroxycarnitine. In conclusion, the used MS-based metabolomics platform proved to be a powerful platform for detection of specific metabolites that improve the understanding of the causal relationship between red meat consumption and associated diseases.
authors.affiliation: Ghent University, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Department of Veterinary Public Health and Food Safety, Laboratory of Chemical Analysis, Salisburylaan 133, B-9820 Merelbeke, Belgium.
authors.forename: Caroline
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Rombouts
authors.affiliation: Ghent University, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Department of Veterinary Public Health and Food Safety, Laboratory of Chemical Analysis, Salisburylaan 133, B-9820 Merelbeke, Belgium.
authors.forename: Lieselot Y
authors.initials: LY
authors.lastname: Hemeryck
authors.affiliation: Ghent University, Faculty of Bioscience Engineering, Department of Animal Production, Laboratory of Animal Nutrition and Animal Product Quality, Proefhoevestraat 10, B-9090 Melle, Belgium.
authors.forename: Thomas
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Van Hecke
authors.affiliation: Ghent University, Faculty of Bioscience Engineering, Department of Animal Production, Laboratory of Animal Nutrition and Animal Product Quality, Proefhoevestraat 10, B-9090 Melle, Belgium.
authors.forename: Stefaan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: De Smet
authors.affiliation: Ghent University, Faculty of Bioscience Engineering, Department of Molecular Biotechnology, Laboratory of Cell Systems &Imaging, Coupure Links 653, B-9000 Ghent, Belgium.|Antwerp University, Faculty of Pharmaceutical, Biomedical and Veterinary Sciences, Department of Veterinary Sciences, Laboratory of Cell Biology and Histology, Groenenborgerlaan 171, B-2020 Antwerp, Belgium.
authors.forename: Winnok H
authors.initials: WH
authors.lastname: De Vos
authors.affiliation: Ghent University, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Department of Veterinary Public Health and Food Safety, Laboratory of Chemical Analysis, Salisburylaan 133, B-9820 Merelbeke, Belgium.
authors.forename: Lynn
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Vanhaecke
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D015415:Biomarkers; D002331:Carnitine / Q000378:metabolism; D002417:Cattle; D003106:Colon / Q000378:metabolism*; D007737:Kynurenine / Q000378:metabolism*; D008460:Meat; D053858:Metabolic Networks and Pathways; D055442:Metabolome; D055432:Metabolomics; D009211:Myoglobin / Q000378:metabolism; D000069466:Red Meat; D014443:Tyrosine / Q000031:analogs & derivatives* / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D015415:Biomarkers; D009211:Myoglobin; D007737:Kynurenine; D014443:Tyrosine; C007543:dityrosine; D002331:Carnitine