Metabolomics: An Emerging Potential Approach to Study Critical Illnesses, 2nd Edition

A special issue of Metabolites (ISSN 2218-1989). This special issue belongs to the section "Endocrinology and Clinical Metabolic Research".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 30 November 2024 | Viewed by 2458

Special Issue Editors


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Guest Editor
Laboratory of Forensic Medicine and Toxicology, School of Medicine, Aristotle University Thessaloniki, Thessaloniki, Greece
Interests: bioanalysis of small molecules; metabolomics; QA/QC strategies in metabolomics; LC-MS; GC-MS; biomarker discovery; disease biomarkers; diagnostic/prognostic
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Guest Editor
Biomic AUTh, Center for Interdisciplinary Research and Innovation (CIRI-AUTH), Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, 57001 Thessaloniki, Greece
Interests: lipidomics; metabolomics; targeted oxylipin LC-MS/MS; bioanalysis; chromatography; LC-MS; disease biomarkers; MVA; osteoarthritis; multiple sclerosis; inflammation

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The reasons for the disproportionately high number of negative randomized controlled trials in critical illness extend beyond improving methodologies, power, and appropriate outcome measurements. Rather, the heterogeneous and dynamic nature of critical illness makes it challenging to prospectively design observational research and clinical trials, limiting our ability to find high-quality therapies to improve outcomes. Instead, precision medicine approaches rooted in translational -omics science, health informatics, and predictive analytics are required to develop targeted, effective therapies and improve patient outcomes.

Recently, efforts have been made to phenotype critical illnesses such as sepsis, a shift away from previous efforts to evaluate treatments and prognostic markers in broadly chosen groups of patients. These efforts suggest that disease phenotypes are not as uniform as previously believed, and as such, different treatments are required for patients with different disease phenotypes. Metabolomics and metabolic phenotyping are reflective of interactions between an individual’s genetics, gut microbiome, and environment (e.g., diet, pharmaceuticals/medical interventions, and exposures) and are well suited to characterizing an individual’s health status at a given point in time or a patient’s response to therapeutic interventions.

Topics of particular interest include, but are not limited to, studies using metabolomics to phenotype critically ill patients, to evaluate patients’ clinical trajectories, to evaluate specific interventions, and to evaluate prognostic and/or diagnostic biomarkers.

Dr. Helen G. Gika
Dr. Pousinis Petros
Guest Editors

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Keywords

  • metabolomics
  • metabolic phenotype
  • critical illness
  • sepsis precision medicine
  • pharmacometabolomics

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Published Papers (2 papers)

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Research

14 pages, 2082 KiB  
Article
Untargeted Blood Lipidomics Analysis in Critically Ill Pediatric Patients with Ventilator-Associated Pneumonia: A Pilot Study
by Christina Virgiliou, Olga Begou, Argyro Ftergioti, Maria Simitsopoulou, Maria Sdougka, Emmanuel Roilides, Georgios Theodoridis, Helen Gika and Elias Iosifidis
Metabolites 2024, 14(9), 466; https://doi.org/10.3390/metabo14090466 - 23 Aug 2024
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Abstract
This study aims to explore the diagnostic potential of blood lipid profiles in suspected ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP). Early detection of VAP remains challenging for clinicians due to subjective clinical criteria and the limited effectiveness of current diagnostic tests. Blood samples from 20 patients, [...] Read more.
This study aims to explore the diagnostic potential of blood lipid profiles in suspected ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP). Early detection of VAP remains challenging for clinicians due to subjective clinical criteria and the limited effectiveness of current diagnostic tests. Blood samples from 20 patients, with ages between 6 months and 15 years, were collected at days 1, 3, 6, and 12, and an untargeted lipidomics analysis was performed using a Ultra high Pressure Liquid Chromatography hyphenated with High Resolution Mass Spectrometry UPLC-HRMS (TIMS-TOF/MS) platform. Patients were stratified based on modified pediatric clinical pulmonary index score (mCPIS) into high (mCPIS ≥ 6, n = 12) and low (mCPIS < 6, n = 8) VAP suspicion groups. With the untargeted lipid profiling, we were able to identify 144 lipid species from different lipid groups such as glycerophospholipids, glycerolipids, and sphingolipids, in the blood of children with VAP. Multivariate and univariate statistical analyses revealed a distinct distribution of blood lipid profiles between the studied groups, indicating the potential utility of lipid biomarkers in discriminating VAP presence. Additionally, specific lipids were associated with pharyngeal culture results, notably the presence of Klebsiella pneumoniae and Staphylococcus aureus, underscoring the importance of lipid profiling in identifying the microbial etiology of VAP. Full article
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14 pages, 897 KiB  
Article
Association of Indoleamine 2,3-Dioxygenase (IDO) Activity with Outcome after Cardiac Surgery in Adult Patients
by Andrea Stieger, Markus Huber, Zhanru Yu, Benedikt M. Kessler, Roman Fischer, Lukas Andereggen, Beatrice Kobel, Frank Stueber, Markus M. Luedi and Mark G. Filipovic
Metabolites 2024, 14(6), 334; https://doi.org/10.3390/metabo14060334 - 14 Jun 2024
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1161
Abstract
Indoleamine 2,3-deoxygenase (IDO) plays an important role in the catabolism of the amino acid tryptophan. Tryptophan and its metabolites are key immune modulators. Increased IDO activity has been observed in various diseases and is associated with worse clinical outcomes. However, comprehensive research regarding [...] Read more.
Indoleamine 2,3-deoxygenase (IDO) plays an important role in the catabolism of the amino acid tryptophan. Tryptophan and its metabolites are key immune modulators. Increased IDO activity has been observed in various diseases and is associated with worse clinical outcomes. However, comprehensive research regarding its role in cardiac surgery remains limited. Therefore, we aimed to investigate perioperative changes in IDO activity and pathway metabolites, along with their impact on clinical outcomes in adult patients undergoing cardiac surgery. As an observational cohort study conducted at the Inselspital in Bern from January to December 2019, we retrospectively analyzed the data of prospectively collected biobank samples of patients undergoing cardiac surgery with the use of cardiopulmonary bypass. IDO pathway metabolite analysis was conducted by mass spectrometry. Perioperative dynamics were descriptively assessed and associated with pre-defined clinical outcome measures (30-day mortality, 1-year mortality, incidence of stroke and myocardial infarction, and length of hospital stay) through a multi-step exploratory regression analysis. A cohort of 192 adult patients undergoing cardiac surgery with the use of cardiopulmonary bypass were included (median age 67.0, IQR 60.0–73.0, 75.5% male). A significant perioperative decrease in the kynurenine/tryptophan (Kyn/Trp) ratio (−2.298, 95% CI −4.028 to −596, p = 0.009) and significant perioperative dynamics in the associated metabolites was observed. No association of perioperative changes in IDO activity and pathway metabolites with clinical outcomes was found. A significant decrease in the Kyn/Trp ratio among adult patients undergoing cardiac surgery indicates a perioperative downregulation of IDO, which stands in contrast to other pro-inflammatory conditions. Further studies are needed to investigate IDO in the setting of perioperative immunomodulation, which is a key driver of postoperative complications in cardiac surgery patients. Full article
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