Article
Chemistry, Analytical
Matthew K. J. Jaggard, Claire L. Boulange, Goncalo Graca, Pouya Akhbari, Uddhav Vaghela, Rajarshi Bhattacharya, Horace R. T. Williams, John C. Lindon, Chinmay M. Gupte
Summary: The impact of metabolism on joint disease pathology is an important area of study. Synovial joint fluid is a representative biofluid for joint disease. This study found that short-term storage temperature variations can affect the detection of certain metabolites in human synovial fluid, while long-term storage can lead to significant changes in metabolites.
JOURNAL OF PHARMACEUTICAL AND BIOMEDICAL ANALYSIS
(2021)
Article
Biochemical Research Methods
Victoria Ramos-Garcia, Isabel Ten-Domenech, Maximo Vento, Clara Bullich-Vilarrubias, Marina Romani-Perez, Yolanda Sanz, Angelica Nobili, Marika Falcone, Marina Di Stefano, Guillermo Quintas, Julia Kuligowski
Summary: Bile acids (BAs) are specific biomarkers of gut microbiota activity. This study presents a method for quantifying 28 BAs and six sulfated BAs in urine and feces samples. The results showed the concentrations and distribution of BAs in human urine and murine feces. The method provides a non-invasive approach to assess BAs in the study of the microbiota's role in health.
ANALYTICAL AND BIOANALYTICAL CHEMISTRY
(2023)
Article
Biotechnology & Applied Microbiology
Felix J. Hartmann, Dunja Mrdjen, Erin McCaffrey, David R. Glass, Noah F. Greenwald, Anusha Bharadwaj, Zumana Khair, Sanne G. S. Verberk, Alex Baranski, Reema Baskar, William Graf, David Van Valen, Jan Van den Bossche, Michael Angelo, Sean C. Bendall
Summary: This antibody-based method allows profiling of metabolic protein expression and regulation in single cells using mass spectrometry while characterizing cellular phenotype. The approach was validated using mass cytometry and applied to clinical samples, revealing tissue-restricted, metabolically repressed immune cells in human colorectal carcinoma. The combination with multiplexed ion beam imaging unveiled the spatial organization of metabolic programs in human tissues.
NATURE BIOTECHNOLOGY
(2021)
Article
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Jing Yang, Xia Yin, Longzhou Zhang, Xiwen Zhang, Yue Lin, Linzhou Zhuang, Wanshan Liu, Ru Zhang, Xuecheng Yan, Li Shi, Wen Di, Lei Feng, Yi Jia, Jinlan Wang, Kun Qian, Xiangdong Yao
Summary: This study developed a precisely engineered metal-organic framework for enhancing the signal of molecule biomarkers, achieving high-accuracy diagnosis of major cancers.
ADVANCED MATERIALS
(2022)
Article
Chemistry, Analytical
Fujia Wang, Tim Veth, Marije Kuipers, Maarten Altelaar, Kelly E. Stecker
Summary: A successful mass spectrometry-based phosphoproteomics analysis relies on effective sample preparation strategies. The performance of the S-Trap protocol for phosphoproteomics studies is unclear, and the addition of phosphoric acid (PA) in the existing protocol is detrimental to downstream phosphopeptide enrichment. This study systematically evaluates the performance of the S-Trap digestion for proteomics and phosphoproteomics, and demonstrates that an optimized S-Trap approach, with trifluoroacetic acid substituted for PA, is a simple and effective method for phosphoproteomics sample preparation.
ANALYTICAL CHEMISTRY
(2023)
Review
Microbiology
Yong Fan, Oluf Pedersen
Summary: The intestinal microbiota plays a significant role in human metabolic health, potentially contributing to the development of common metabolic disorders when dysregulated. Current research is shifting towards cause-and-effect studies and utilizing high-throughput human multi-omics data to identify potential molecular mechanisms behind these associations.
NATURE REVIEWS MICROBIOLOGY
(2021)
Article
Medicine, General & Internal
Xiongcai Feng, Junzhao Ye, Hong Deng, Xin Li, Lishu Xu, Shiting Feng, Zhi Dong, Bing Liao, Zhiyong Dong, Bihui Zhong
Summary: The study aimed to investigate the impact factors of ultrasound in metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease (MASLD) and optimize its screening performance. The study found that ultrasound had a high misdiagnosis rate, and the number of metabolic dysfunction components and ALT levels were associated with missed diagnosis by ultrasound. The new strategy combining ultrasound with measurements of metabolic dysfunction components and ALT and uric acid levels significantly improved the screening performance.
Review
Cell Biology
Nordin M. J. Hanssen, Willem M. de Vos, Max Nieuwdorp
Summary: Fecal microbiota transplantation (FMT) is increasingly recognized as a therapeutic approach for a variety of chronic conditions, with successful applications in recurrent Clostridiodes difficile infection, but ongoing exploration in ulcerative colitis and other diseases. Its potential use in clinical practice for metabolic diseases may be limited, but there is promising new research on its impact on type 1 diabetes.
Article
Biotechnology & Applied Microbiology
Danyang Li, Huihui Wang, Jingtao Ding, Yawen Zhou, Yiman Jia, Shengyuan Fan, Aiqin Zhang, Yujun Shen
Summary: This study compared the composting performance between human feces and cattle manure, and found that the human feces compost did not meet the maturity standard, with lower humus content and humic acid/fulvic acid ratio. In terms of microbial communities and metabolic functions, the human feces compost had lower abundance in certain genes related to metabolism compared to the cattle manure compost. Therefore, adding cattle manure to human feces composting was recommended to improve the composting performance.
ENVIRONMENTAL TECHNOLOGY & INNOVATION
(2023)
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Ewelina Weglarz-Tomczak, Demi J. Rijlaarsdam, Jakub M. Tomczak, Stanley Brul
Summary: Researchers proposed an integrated metabolic profiling framework to enrich genome-scale metabolic models of cancer cells. By converting RNA-seq data into Reaction Activity Score (RAS) and nutrient availability into Maximal Uptake Rate (MUR), they applied this framework to a study on the human osteosarcoma cell line.
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF MOLECULAR SCIENCES
(2021)
Article
Endocrinology & Metabolism
Maria Sanchez-Campillo, Maria Teresa Pastor-Fajardo, Maria Sabater-Molina, Maria Jose Lopez-Andreo, Elvira Larque
Summary: This study investigates the critical steps of non-invasive methods for analyzing human gut cell gene expression in stool samples by examining prokaryote contamination in each step of different procedures and the influence of fecal sampling collection process. The results show that the least bacterial contamination is found when using RNA amplified with oligo dT from the GeneChip 3' IVT Pico Reagent Kit or using RNA purified by both Oligotex (R) + oligo dT.
ANNALS OF NUTRITION AND METABOLISM
(2022)
Article
Endocrinology & Metabolism
Christoffer A. Hagemann, Chen Zhang, Henrik H. Hansen, Tina Jorsal, Kristoffer T. G. Rigbolt, Martin R. Madsen, Natasha C. Bergmann, Sebastian M. N. Heimbuerger, Mechthilde Falkenhahn, Stefan Theis, Kristin Breitschopf, Stephanie Holm, Morten A. Hedegaard, Mikkel B. Christensen, Tina Vilsboll, Birgitte Holst, Niels Vrang, Jacob Jelsing, Filip K. Knop
Summary: The study aimed to identify gut-derived peptides with therapeutic potential in obesity and diabetes by profiling molecular changes in enteroendocrine cells following RYGB-induced weight loss. Results showed that RYGB increased expression levels of LEAP2 in the small intestine, with the LEAP2(38-47) fragment demonstrating insulinotropic properties in vitro but no glucoregulatory effects in healthy human subjects.
JOURNAL OF CLINICAL ENDOCRINOLOGY & METABOLISM
(2021)
Article
Biophysics
M. R. Ali, M. S. Bacchu, M. A. A. Setu, S. Akter, M. N. Hasan, F. T. Chowdhury, M. M. Rahman, M. S. Ahommed, M. Z. H. Khan
Summary: A highly sensitive DNA-based electrochemical biosensor has been developed for the accurate and rapid quantification of Vibrio cholerae, demonstrating a wide linear response range and selective detection behavior. The biosensor shows potential to be a powerful screening tool in clinical diagnostics, food safety, and environmental monitoring.
BIOSENSORS & BIOELECTRONICS
(2021)
Article
Chemistry, Analytical
Guangpei Qi, Haixia Zou, Xiaohong Peng, Shiliang He, Qiqi Zhang, Wei Ye, Yizhou Jiang, Wentao Wang, Guangli Ren, Xiangmeng Qu
Summary: Metabolic footprinting is a convenient and non-invasive cell metabolomics strategy used to monitor the entire extracellular metabolic process. However, its universality is limited due to the need for pre-treatment of cell medium and specialized equipment. In this study, we developed a fluorescently labeled single-stranded DNA-AuNP encoder that can detect extracellular metabolites, allowing for metabolic response profiling and the identification of cell heterogeneity in tumor cells.
ANALYTICAL CHEMISTRY
(2023)
Article
Microbiology
Xue Bai, Yu Shi, Lipeng Tang, Li Chen, Huimei Fan, Haoding Wang, Jie Wang, Xianbo Jia, Shiyi Chen, Songjia Lai
Summary: Heat stress can impair the immune system of rabbits, induce oxidative stress, and cause various complications. This study found that heat stress significantly increased serum levels of IgG and T-AOC, while decreasing TNF-alpha and IL-10 levels. Analysis of the rabbit fecal microbiome and metabolomics revealed significant differences in microbial composition and metabolic pathways between the heat stress and control groups.
FRONTIERS IN MICROBIOLOGY
(2022)
Editorial Material
Gastroenterology & Hepatology
Benjamin H. H. Mullish, Laura Martinez-Gili, Jessica R. R. Allegretti
ALIMENTARY PHARMACOLOGY & THERAPEUTICS
(2023)
Article
Gastroenterology & Hepatology
Francesca M. Trovato, Rabiya Zia, Florent Artru, Salma Mujib, Ellen Jerome, Anna Cavazza, Muireann Coen, Ian Wilson, Elaine Holmes, Phillip Morgan, Arjuna Singanayagam, Christine Bernsmeier, Salvatore Napoli, William Bernal, Julia Wendon, Rosa Miquel, Krishna Menon, Vishal C. Patel, John Smith, Stephen R. Atkinson, Evangelos Triantafyllou, Mark J. W. McPhail
Summary: A metabolome study found that ALF patients have dysregulated metabolism and immune responses, potentially mediated by the LPC-ATX-LPA pathway.
JOURNAL OF HEPATOLOGY
(2023)
Article
Immunology
Helene Ruffieux, Aimee L. Hanson, Samantha Lodge, Nathan G. Lawler, Luke Whiley, Nicola Gray, Tui H. Nolan, Laura Bergamaschi, Federica Mescia, Lorinda Turner, Aloka de Sa, Victoria S. Pelly, Prasanti Kotagiri, Nathalie R. Kingston, John Bradley, Elaine Holmes, Julien K. Wist, Jeremy A. Nicholson, Paul Lyons, Kenneth G. C. Smith, Sylvia Richardson, Glenn Bantug, Christoph Hess
Summary: We analyzed detailed longitudinal phenotyping data from 215 individuals with varying disease severities to understand the biology behind individual patient responses to SARS-CoV-2 infection. Our findings revealed distinct profiles of 'systemic recovery', including the progression and resolution of inflammatory, immune cell, metabolic, and clinical responses. We identified strong correlations between innate immune cell numbers, kynurenine metabolites, and lipid metabolites, which have implications for homeostasis restoration, risk of death, and long COVID.
Article
Oncology
Aisha Augustin, Adrien Le Guennec, Chianna Umamahesan, Aidan Kendler-Rhodes, Rosalind M. Tucker, Elena Chekmeneva, Panteleimon Takis, Matthew Lewis, Karthik Balasubramanian, Neville DeSouza, Benjamin H. Mullish, David Taylor, Suzanne Ryan, Kevin Whelan, Yun Ma, Mohammad A. A. Ibrahim, Ingvar Bjarnason, Bu' Hussain Hayee, Andre Charlett, Sylvia M. Dobbs, R. John Dobbs, Clive Weller
Summary: This study explores the involvement of the gut-brain axis in Parkinson's disease (PD) and finds that the gut health, intestinal inflammation, and systemic inflammatory response are related to the clinical phenotype of PD. The researchers also observe that prolonged colonic transit is associated with a lack of short-chain fatty acids, and deficits in specific metabolites, such as tryptophan, are linked to PD symptoms. In addition, PD patients have a faster pulse rate, which is associated with deficits in certain metabolites and increased serum CCL20 levels. The study highlights the importance of gut health and inflammation in PD pathophysiology.
CLINICAL AND TRANSLATIONAL MEDICINE
(2023)
Meeting Abstract
Gastroenterology & Hepatology
R. Forlano, T. Stanic, S. Jayawardana, B. H. Mullish, M. Yee, E. Mossialos, R. D. Goldin, S. Petta, E. Tsochatzis, M. R. Thursz, P. Manousou
DIGESTIVE AND LIVER DISEASE
(2023)
News Item
Gastroenterology & Hepatology
Philip J. Smith
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Nila Jambulingam, Roberta Forlano, Benjamin Preston, Benjamin H. Mullish, Greta Portone, Yama Baheer, Michael Yee, Robert D. Goldin, Mark R. Thursz, Pinelopi Manousou
Summary: Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is a major cause of chronic liver disease worldwide, and fibrosis stage is an important predictor for clinical outcomes. This study investigates the metabolic profile of NAFLD patients in relation to fibrosis progression. The results show that a combination of metabolites and lipoproteins can accurately identify fast fibrosis progressors and perform better than noninvasive markers. These specific metabolic profiles can predict fibrosis progression in patients with NAFLD, and algorithms combining metabolites and lipids could be used for risk stratification of these patients.
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF MOLECULAR SCIENCES
(2023)
Article
Biochemical Research Methods
Monique J. Ryan, Alanah Grant-St James, Nathan G. Lawler, Mark W. Fear, Edward Raby, Fiona M. Wood, Garth L. Maker, Julien Wist, Elaine Holmes, Jeremy K. Nicholson, Luke Whiley, Nicola Gray
Summary: This study presents an optimized comprehensive targeted workflow for plasma and serum lipid quantification, which combines stable isotope internal standard dilution, automated sample preparation, and ultrahigh performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry with rapid polarity switching. The method is robust to common sources of analytical variation and is suitable for large-scale, multibatch applications in precision medicine.
JOURNAL OF PROTEOME RESEARCH
(2023)
Article
Gastroenterology & Hepatology
Laura Martinez-Gili, Alexandros Pechlivanis, Julie A. K. McDonald, Sofina Begum, Jonathan Badrock, Jessica K. Dyson, Rebecca Jones, Gideon Hirschfield, Stephen D. Ryder, Richard Sandford, Simon Rushbrook, Douglas Thorburn, Simon D. Taylor-Robinson, Mary M. E. Crossey, Julian R. Marchesi, George Mells, Elaine Holmes, David Jones
Summary: A study on patients with primary biliary cholangitis (PBC) showed that there is variation in response to ursodeoxycholic acid (UDCA) treatment. Responders exhibited high levels of secondary and tertiary bile acids, while non-responders had lower urinary bile acid levels and higher levels of 12-dehydrocholic acid. Additionally, non-responders showed lower gut microbiota diversity and lower capacity for bile acid deconjugation.
Article
Public, Environmental & Occupational Health
Sofina Begum, Samantha Lodge, Drew Hall, Blair Z. Johnson, Sze How Bong, Luke Whiley, Nicola Gray, Vanessa S. Fear, Mark W. Fear, Elaine Holmes, Fiona M. Wood, Jeremy K. Nicholson
Summary: Burn injury in children has long-term effects on metabolism and physiology, leading to increased morbidity and mortality. However, little is known about the metabolic trajectory and specific health outcomes.
FRONTIERS IN PUBLIC HEALTH
(2023)
Article
Rheumatology
Maja Skov Kragsnaes, Jesus Miguens Blanco, Benjamin H. Mullish, Jose Ivan Contreras-Serrano, Jens Kjeldsen, Hans Christian Horn, Jens Kristian Pedersen, Heidi Lausten Munk, Anna Christine Nilsson, Ash Salam, Matthew R. Lewis, Elena Chekmeneva, Karsten Kristiansen, Julian R. Marchesi, Torkell Ellingsen
Summary: This study investigated the intestinal permeability and metabolomic profiles in methotrexate-treated psoriatic arthritis patients, and their relationship with clinical response. The results showed that intestinal permeability and metabolomic profiles were associated with the primary clinical trial end point.
ACR OPEN RHEUMATOLOGY
(2023)
Review
Medicine, General & Internal
Mark Thursz, Anne Lingford-Hughes
Summary: Alcohol-related liver disease (ALD) is a leading contributor to liver-related morbidity and mortality, and its burden is increasing. The disease is influenced by genetic susceptibility and environmental factors. Despite long-term excessive alcohol consumption, most patients are diagnosed at an advanced stage, missing opportunities for intervention. Non-invasive tests have shown promise in early detection. Public health measures and individual interventions have limited ability to reduce the disease burden due to a lack of effective interventions. Abstinence from alcohol is crucial for established ALD patients, and liver transplant is indicated in cases of decompensated ALD. Understanding the mechanisms of alcohol-induced liver disease offers potential for new treatments, but funding in this area has been historically inadequate.
BMJ-BRITISH MEDICAL JOURNAL
(2023)
Meeting Abstract
Gastroenterology & Hepatology
Nadeen Habboub, Benjamin H. Mullish, Celia Moore, Maria Lanoria, Benjamin Challis, Roberta Forlano, Mark Thursz, Marc-Emmanuel Dumas, Pinelopi Manousou
JOURNAL OF HEPATOLOGY
(2023)