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Special Issue "Metabolomics in Health and Disease 2.0"

A special issue of International Journal of Molecular Sciences (ISSN 1422-0067). This special issue belongs to the section "Biochemistry".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (20 September 2023) | Viewed by 3034

Special Issue Editor

Instituto de Tecnologia Química e Biológica António Xavier, Universidade Nova de Lisboa (ITQB NOVA), Oeiras, Portugal
Interests: proteomics; metabolomics; mass spectrometry; host-pathogen interaction; tissue/organ regeneration; marine organisms; antimicrobials; echinoderms
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Metabolomics is the systematic quantification of a large part of the metabolites of a biological system (cell, tissue, organ, biological fluid, or organism) at a specific point in time. Based on the goal of the determination, metabolomics might be divided into untargeted (aiming to determine the largest part of the metabolome) or targeted (focused on the specific quantification of a selected part of the metabolome).

Mass spectrometry and nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy are the gold standard techniques for metabolomics. In the particular case of mass spectrometry, we can find a wealth of instrumental configurations. In addition, alternative techniques—either standalone or in combination with mass spectrometry—have also been tested for metabolomic studies. Notable examples are ion mobility spectrometry, Raman spectroscopy, infrared spectroscopy, and others.

Since metabolomics analysis generates large-scale and complex datasets, data analysis is crucial to extract biologically relevant information. Many metabolomics studies feature moderate sample counts, extremely high dimensional datasets, and complex experimental designs that require careful use of advanced statistics and machine learning.

Metabolomics is considered to provide a close link to the organism’s phenotype. Thus, alterations in the metabolome can be used as biomarkers for diagnosis, prognosis, or evolution monitoring of a wide range of diseases, including cancer, neurodegenerative diseases, cardiovascular diseases, or rare diseases. Additionally, metabolomics can provide useful information regarding the mechanism underlying the pathological status. For all these reasons, metabolomics have become one of the most promising tools in health and disease.

This Special Issue, “Metabolomics in Health and Disease”, aims to provide a summary of the field and to explore the application of metabolomics for diagnosis, prognosis, and/or mechanism elucidation in different diseases using either human samples or animal models for disease. We warmly welcome original research and review articles dealing with these aspects.

Dr. Ana Varela Coelho
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

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Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. International Journal of Molecular Sciences is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

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Keywords

  • biomarkers
  • mass spectrometry
  • NMR
  • alternative analytical platforms for metabolomics
  • data processing workflows
  • computational biomarker discovery
  • volatile metabolomics
  • cancer
  • neurodegenerative diseases
  • cardiovascular diseases
  • epidemiology
  • rare diseases

Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

Article
Anti-Inflammatory Activity of Black Soldier Fly Oil Associated with Modulation of TLR Signaling: A Metabolomic Approach
Int. J. Mol. Sci. 2023, 24(13), 10634; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms241310634 - 25 Jun 2023
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Abstract
Dietary intervention in the treatment of ulcerative colitis involves, among other things, modifications in fatty acid content and/or profile. For example, replacing saturated long chain fatty acids with medium chain fatty acids (MCFAs) has been reported to ameliorate inflammation. The Black Soldier Fly [...] Read more.
Dietary intervention in the treatment of ulcerative colitis involves, among other things, modifications in fatty acid content and/or profile. For example, replacing saturated long chain fatty acids with medium chain fatty acids (MCFAs) has been reported to ameliorate inflammation. The Black Soldier Fly Larvae’s (BSFL) oil is considered a sustainable dietary ingredient rich in the MCFA C12:0; however, its effect on inflammatory-related conditions has not been studied until now. Thus, the present study aimed to investigate the anti-inflammatory activity of BSFL oil in comparison to C12:0 using TLR4- or TLR2-activated THP-1 and J774A.1 cell lines and to assess its putative protective effect against dextran sulfate sodium (DSS)-induced acute colitis in mice. BSFL oil and C12:0 suppressed proinflammatory cytokines release in LPS-stimulated macrophages; however, only BSFL oil exerted anti-inflammatory activity in Pam3CSK4-stimulated macrophages. Transcriptome analysis provided insight into the possible role of BSFL oil in immunometabolism switch, involving mTOR signaling and an increase in PPAR target genes promoting fatty acid oxidation, exhibiting a discrepant mode of action compared to C12:0 treatment, which mainly affected cholesterol biosynthesis pathways. Additionally, we identified anti-inflammatory eicosanoids, oxylipins, and isoprenoids in the BSFL oil that may contribute to an orchestrated anti-inflammatory response. In vivo, a BSFL oil-enriched diet (20%) ameliorated the clinical signs of colitis, as indicated by improved body weight recovery, reduced colon shortening, reduced splenomegaly, and an earlier phase of secretory IgA response. These results indicate the novel beneficial use of BSFL oil as a modulator of inflammation. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Metabolomics in Health and Disease 2.0)
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Article
LC-MS/MS-Based Serum Metabolomics and Transcriptome Analyses for the Mechanism of Augmented Renal Clearance
Int. J. Mol. Sci. 2023, 24(13), 10459; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms241310459 - 21 Jun 2023
Viewed by 516
Abstract
Augmented Renal Clearance (ARC) refers to the increased renal clearance of circulating solute in critically ill patients. In this study, the analytical research method of transcriptomics combined with metabolomics was used to study the pathogenesis of ARC at the transcriptional and metabolic levels. [...] Read more.
Augmented Renal Clearance (ARC) refers to the increased renal clearance of circulating solute in critically ill patients. In this study, the analytical research method of transcriptomics combined with metabolomics was used to study the pathogenesis of ARC at the transcriptional and metabolic levels. In transcriptomics, 534 samples from 5 datasets in the Gene Expression Omnibus database were analyzed and 834 differential genes associated with ARC were obtained. In metabolomics, we used Ultra-Performance Liquid Chromatography-Quadrupole Time-of-Flight Mass Spectrometry to determine the non-targeted metabolites of 102 samples after matching propensity scores, and obtained 45 differential metabolites associated with ARC. The results of the combined analysis showed that purine metabolism, arginine biosynthesis, and arachidonic acid metabolism were changed in patients with ARC. We speculate that the occurrence of ARC may be related to the alteration of renal blood perfusion by LTB4R, ARG1, ALOX5, arginine and prostaglandins E2 through inflammatory response, as well as the effects of CA4, PFKFB2, PFKFB3, PRKACB, NMDAR, glutamate and cAMP on renal capillary wall permeability. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Metabolomics in Health and Disease 2.0)
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Article
Comprehensive Insight into Colorectal Cancer Metabolites and Lipids for Human Serum: A Proof-of-Concept Study
Int. J. Mol. Sci. 2023, 24(11), 9614; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms24119614 - 01 Jun 2023
Viewed by 1014
Abstract
Colorectal cancer (CRC) ranks as the third most frequently diagnosed cancer and the second leading cause of cancer-related deaths. The current endoscopic-based or stool-based diagnostic techniques are either highly invasive or lack sufficient sensitivity. Thus, there is a need for less invasive and [...] Read more.
Colorectal cancer (CRC) ranks as the third most frequently diagnosed cancer and the second leading cause of cancer-related deaths. The current endoscopic-based or stool-based diagnostic techniques are either highly invasive or lack sufficient sensitivity. Thus, there is a need for less invasive and more sensitive screening approaches. We, therefore, conducted a study on 64 human serum samples representing three different groups (adenocarcinoma, adenoma, and control) using cutting-edge GC×GC–LR/HR-TOFMS (comprehensive two-dimensional gas chromatography coupled with low/high-resolution time-of-flight mass spectrometry). We analyzed samples with two different specifically tailored sample preparation approaches for lipidomics (fatty acids) (25 μL serum) and metabolomics (50 μL serum). In-depth chemometric screening with supervised and unsupervised approaches and metabolic pathway analysis were applied to both datasets. A lipidomics study revealed that specific PUFA (ω-3) molecules are inversely associated with increased odds of CRC, while some PUFA (ω-6) analytes show a positive correlation. The metabolomics approach revealed downregulation of amino acids (alanine, glutamate, methionine, threonine, tyrosine, and valine) and myo-inositol in CRC, while 3-hydroxybutyrate levels were increased. This unique study provides comprehensive insight into molecular-level changes associated with CRC and allows for a comparison of the efficiency of two different analytical approaches for CRC screening using same serum samples and single instrumentation. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Metabolomics in Health and Disease 2.0)
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