A Serum Metabolomic Analysis in Behcet's Disease: A Preliminary Study

Wenjie Zheng¹, Xiuhua Wu^1,2, Maryam Goudarzi³, Hua Chen¹, JinJing Liu¹, Jing Shi¹, Chaoran Li¹, Mengyu Zhou⁴, Wen Zhang¹, Xuan Zhang¹ and Henghong Li³, ¹Rheumatology, Peking Union Medical College Hospital, Beijing, China, ²Rheumatology, General Hospital of Tianjin Medical University, Tianjing, China, ³Georgetown University Medical Center, Georgetown University, Washington, DC, WA, ⁴Peking Union Medical College Hospital, Beijing, China

Meeting: 2017 ACR/ARHP Annual Meeting

Date of first publication: September 18, 2017

Keywords: Behcet's syndrome and metabolomics

Session Information

Date: Tuesday, November 7, 2017

Title: Vasculitis Poster III: Other Vasculitis Syndromes

Session Type: ACR Poster Session C

Session Time: 9:00AM-11:00AM

Background/Purpose: The diagnosis of Behçet’s disease (BD) is mainly based on clinical manifestations and remains a challenge in clinical practice, due to the fact that there are no diagnostic biomarkers available currently. Recently metabolomics has been applied in discovering and validating biomarkers of inflammatory diseases. This study aims to identify serum metabolites associated with BD and to search for the metabolites responsive to treatment using metabolomics approach.

Methods: Medical records and serum samples of 24 pre-treated BD patients (15 men and 9 women) and 12 post-treated patients were collected. . Serums from 25 gender- and age-matched healthy volunteers were also collected. Metabolomics and lipidomics profiling were carried out by using UPLC-QTOFMS and UPLC-QTOFMS^E respectively. Raw mass spectrometric data were processed using Progenesis QI software. Statistical analysis and putative ion identification on the post-processed data were conducted utilizing MetaboLyzer.

Results: Unsupervised principal component analysis (PCA) plots of the lipidomics and metabolomics data showed clear separation of profiles from BD patients and healthy controls. Statistical analysis of the data revealed statistically differential metabolites between BD patients and healthy controls. Identification of selected metabolites was confirmed by comparing MS/MS fragmentation pattern with authentic standards. The serum levels of several phosphatidylcholines (PCs) were found significantly lower in BD patients compared to healthy controls. We also observed a marked increased levels of polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) including two omega-6 fatty acids, linoleic acid and arachidonic acid, and oleic acid, a n-9 PUFA in BD patients compared with those in the healthy control group. It is of interest to note that treatment recovered two omega-6 fatty acids (linoleic acid and arachidonic acid) but not the other differential metabolites.

Conclusion: Our study shows altered serum metabolomics profile in BD patients and suggests that levels of PCs, and PUFAs may be indicative in the diagnosis of BD. Two omega-6 fatty acids, linoleic acid and arachidonic acid, may provide insights for therapeutic effects.

Disclosure: W. Zheng, None; X. Wu, None; M. Goudarzi, None; H. Chen, None; J. Liu, None; J. Shi, None; C. Li, None; M. Zhou, None; W. Zhang, None; X. Zhang, None; H. Li, None.

To cite this abstract in AMA style:

Zheng W, Wu X, Goudarzi M, Chen H, Liu J, Shi J, Li C, Zhou M, Zhang W, Zhang X, Li H. A Serum Metabolomic Analysis in Behcet’s Disease: A Preliminary Study [abstract]. Arthritis Rheumatol. 2017; 69 (suppl 10). https://acrabstracts.org/abstract/a-serum-metabolomic-analysis-in-behcets-disease-a-preliminary-study/. Accessed .

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