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González-Llorente L, Andrés-Gasco M, Gil Aranda MA, Rabadán-Ros R, Zapata-Pérez R, Núñez-Delicado E, Menéndez-Coto N, García-González C, Baena-Huerta FJ, Coto-Montes A, Caso-Peláez E. The Hormetic Adaptative Capacity and Resilience to Oxidative Stress Is Strengthened by Exposome Enrichment with Air Cold Atmospheric Plasma: A Metabolome Targeted Follow-Up Approach. Biomedicines 2025; 13:949. [PMID: 40299663 PMCID: PMC12025095 DOI: 10.3390/biomedicines13040949] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/12/2025] [Revised: 04/08/2025] [Accepted: 04/09/2025] [Indexed: 05/01/2025] Open
Abstract
Background/Objectives: The exposome, encompassing all environmental influences on health, plays a pivotal role in oxidative stress-related diseases. Negative air ions (NAIs), generated via cold atmospheric plasma (CAP), have been proposed as potential modulators of oxidative resilience. This study aims to investigate the metabolic adaptations induced by prolonged exposure to an NAI-enriched environment in mice, focusing on its effects in oxidative stress markers and energy metabolism in liver and blood. Methods: Twenty male C57BL/6J mice were divided into four groups: two experimental groups exposed to NAI-enriched air generated by an Air Cold Atmospheric Plasma-Nanoparticle Removal (aCAP-NR) device for either 18 days (short-term, ST) or 28 days (long-term, LT), and two control groups without exposure. Targeted metabolomics was performed in whole blood and liver using ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (UHPLC-MS). Statistical and pathway analyses were conducted to assess metabolic alterations. Results: Metabolic profiling revealed significant shifts in oxidative stress-related pathways, including enhanced glutathione metabolism, reduced lipid peroxidation, and modulation of purine metabolism. Short-term exposure led to increased mitochondrial efficiency and energy homeostasis, while long-term exposure induced adaptive metabolic reprogramming, with higher inosine levels suggesting enhanced antioxidant and anti-inflammatory responses. No adverse effects on systemic or hepatic health markers were observed. Conclusions: NAI exposure via aCAP-NR elicits a hormetic response, enhancing metabolic efficiency and resilience to oxidative stress. These findings suggest that controlled environmental enrichment with NAIs may serve as a novel non-invasive strategy for mitigating oxidative damage and improving metabolic health, as hormetic adaptative capacity and resilience to oxidative stress, warranting further translational research.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lucía González-Llorente
- UCAM HiTech Sport & Health Innovation Hub, Universidad Católica de Murcia, Guadalupe de Maciascoque, 30107 Murcia, Spain
- System and Precision Medicine Unit, Hospital Ribera Covadonga, 33204 Gijón, Asturias, Spain
| | - Miguel Andrés-Gasco
- UCAM HiTech Sport & Health Innovation Hub, Universidad Católica de Murcia, Guadalupe de Maciascoque, 30107 Murcia, Spain
- Health Sciences PhD Program, Universidad Católica de Murcia UCAM, Campus de los Jerónimos nº135, Guadalupe de Maciascoque, 30107 Murcia, Spain
| | - Macarena Alba Gil Aranda
- UCAM HiTech Sport & Health Innovation Hub, Universidad Católica de Murcia, Guadalupe de Maciascoque, 30107 Murcia, Spain
- Health Sciences PhD Program, Universidad Católica de Murcia UCAM, Campus de los Jerónimos nº135, Guadalupe de Maciascoque, 30107 Murcia, Spain
- Research Group of Metabolism and Gene Regulation, UCAM HiTech Sport & Health Innovation Hub, Universidad Católica de Murcia, Guadalupe de Maciascoque, 30107 Murcia, Spain
| | - Rubén Rabadán-Ros
- UCAM HiTech Sport & Health Innovation Hub, Universidad Católica de Murcia, Guadalupe de Maciascoque, 30107 Murcia, Spain
- Research Group of Metabolism and Gene Regulation, UCAM HiTech Sport & Health Innovation Hub, Universidad Católica de Murcia, Guadalupe de Maciascoque, 30107 Murcia, Spain
| | - Rubén Zapata-Pérez
- UCAM HiTech Sport & Health Innovation Hub, Universidad Católica de Murcia, Guadalupe de Maciascoque, 30107 Murcia, Spain
- Research Group of Metabolism and Gene Regulation, UCAM HiTech Sport & Health Innovation Hub, Universidad Católica de Murcia, Guadalupe de Maciascoque, 30107 Murcia, Spain
| | - Estrella Núñez-Delicado
- UCAM HiTech Sport & Health Innovation Hub, Universidad Católica de Murcia, Guadalupe de Maciascoque, 30107 Murcia, Spain
- Research Group of Molecular Recognition and Encapsulation (REM), Health Sciences Department, Universidad Católica de Murcia (UCAM), Campus de los Jerónimos 135, 30107 Guadalupe, Spain
| | - Nerea Menéndez-Coto
- Department of Morphology and Cell Biology, University of Oviedo, 33006 Oviedo, Asturias, Spain
- Research Group Oxidative Stress Knowledge and Advanced Research (OSKAR), Instituto de Investigación Sanitaria del Principado de Asturias (ISPA), 33011 Oviedo, Asturias, Spain
- Instituto de Neurociencias del Principado de Asturias (INEUROPA), 33006 Oviedo, Asturias, Spain
- Instituto de Investigación Sanitaria del Principado de Asturias (ISPA), 33011 Oviedo, Asturias, Spain
| | - Claudia García-González
- Department of Morphology and Cell Biology, University of Oviedo, 33006 Oviedo, Asturias, Spain
- Research Group Oxidative Stress Knowledge and Advanced Research (OSKAR), Instituto de Investigación Sanitaria del Principado de Asturias (ISPA), 33011 Oviedo, Asturias, Spain
- Instituto de Neurociencias del Principado de Asturias (INEUROPA), 33006 Oviedo, Asturias, Spain
- Instituto de Investigación Sanitaria del Principado de Asturias (ISPA), 33011 Oviedo, Asturias, Spain
| | - Francisco Javier Baena-Huerta
- Department of Morphology and Cell Biology, University of Oviedo, 33006 Oviedo, Asturias, Spain
- Research Group Oxidative Stress Knowledge and Advanced Research (OSKAR), Instituto de Investigación Sanitaria del Principado de Asturias (ISPA), 33011 Oviedo, Asturias, Spain
- Instituto de Neurociencias del Principado de Asturias (INEUROPA), 33006 Oviedo, Asturias, Spain
- Instituto de Investigación Sanitaria del Principado de Asturias (ISPA), 33011 Oviedo, Asturias, Spain
| | - Ana Coto-Montes
- Department of Morphology and Cell Biology, University of Oviedo, 33006 Oviedo, Asturias, Spain
- Research Group Oxidative Stress Knowledge and Advanced Research (OSKAR), Instituto de Investigación Sanitaria del Principado de Asturias (ISPA), 33011 Oviedo, Asturias, Spain
- Instituto de Neurociencias del Principado de Asturias (INEUROPA), 33006 Oviedo, Asturias, Spain
- Instituto de Investigación Sanitaria del Principado de Asturias (ISPA), 33011 Oviedo, Asturias, Spain
| | - Enrique Caso-Peláez
- UCAM HiTech Sport & Health Innovation Hub, Universidad Católica de Murcia, Guadalupe de Maciascoque, 30107 Murcia, Spain
- System and Precision Medicine Unit, Hospital Ribera Covadonga, 33204 Gijón, Asturias, Spain
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2
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Young AS, Mullins CE, Sehgal N, Vermeulen RCH, Kolijn PM, Vlaanderen J, Rahman ML, Birmann BM, Barupal D, Lan Q, Rothman N, Walker DI. The need for a cancer exposome atlas: a scoping review. JNCI Cancer Spectr 2025; 9:pkae122. [PMID: 39700422 PMCID: PMC11729703 DOI: 10.1093/jncics/pkae122] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/13/2024] [Accepted: 11/18/2024] [Indexed: 12/21/2024] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Despite advances in understanding genetic susceptibility to cancer, much of cancer heritability remains unidentified. At the same time, the makeup of industrial chemicals in our environment only grows more complex. This gap in knowledge on cancer risk has prompted calls to expand cancer research to the comprehensive, discovery-based study of nongenetic environmental influences, conceptualized as the "exposome." METHODS Our scoping review aimed to describe the exposome and its application to cancer epidemiology and to study design limitations, challenges in analytical methods, and major unmet opportunities in advanced exposome profiling methods that allow the quantification of complex chemical exposure profiles in biological matrices. To evaluate progress on incorporating measurements of the exposome into cancer research, we performed a review of such "cancer exposome" studies published through August 2023. RESULTS We found that only 1 study leveraged untargeted chemical profiling of the exposome as a method to measure tens of thousands of environmental chemicals and identify prospective associations with future cancer risk. The other 13 studies used hypothesis-driven exposome approaches that targeted a set of preselected lifestyle, occupational, air quality, social determinant, or other external risk factors. Many of the included studies could only leverage sample sizes with less than 400 cancer cases (67% of nonecologic studies) and exposures experienced after diagnosis (29% of studies). Six cancer types were covered, most commonly blood (43%), lung (21%), or breast (14%) cancer. CONCLUSION The exposome is underutilized in cancer research, despite its potential to unravel complex relationships between environmental exposures and cancer and to inform primary prevention.
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Affiliation(s)
- Anna S Young
- Gangarosa Department of Environmental Health, Rollins School of Public Health, Emory University, Atlanta, GA 30322, United States
| | - Catherine E Mullins
- Gangarosa Department of Environmental Health, Rollins School of Public Health, Emory University, Atlanta, GA 30322, United States
| | - Neha Sehgal
- Gangarosa Department of Environmental Health, Rollins School of Public Health, Emory University, Atlanta, GA 30322, United States
| | - Roel C H Vermeulen
- Institute for Risk Assessment Sciences, Utrecht University, Utrecht 3584 CM, The Netherlands
| | - P Martijn Kolijn
- Institute for Risk Assessment Sciences, Utrecht University, Utrecht 3584 CM, The Netherlands
- Julius Global Health, The Julius Center for Health Sciences and Primary Care, University Medical Center, Utrecht 3584 CG, The Netherlands
| | - Jelle Vlaanderen
- Institute for Risk Assessment Sciences, Utrecht University, Utrecht 3584 CM, The Netherlands
| | | | - Brenda M Birmann
- Channing Division of Network Medicine, Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, United States
| | - Dinesh Barupal
- Department of Environmental Medicine and Climate Science, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY 10029, United States
| | - Qing Lan
- National Cancer Institute, Bethesda, MD 20892, United States
| | | | - Douglas I Walker
- Gangarosa Department of Environmental Health, Rollins School of Public Health, Emory University, Atlanta, GA 30322, United States
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3
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Patsalis C, Iyer G, Brandenburg M, Karnovsky A, Michailidis G. DNEA: an R package for fast and versatile data-driven network analysis of metabolomics data. BMC Bioinformatics 2024; 25:383. [PMID: 39695921 DOI: 10.1186/s12859-024-05994-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/20/2024] [Accepted: 11/19/2024] [Indexed: 12/20/2024] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Metabolomics is a high-throughput technology that measures small molecule metabolites in cells, tissues or biofluids. Analysis of metabolomics data is a multi-step process that involves data processing, quality control and normalization, followed by statistical and bioinformatics analysis. The latter step often involves pathway analysis to aid biological interpretation of the data. This approach is limited to endogenous metabolites that can be readily mapped to metabolic pathways. An alternative to pathway analysis that can be used for any classes of metabolites, including unknown compounds that are ubiquitous in untargeted metabolomics data, involves defining metabolite-metabolite interactions using experimental data. Our group has developed several network-based methods that use partial correlations of experimentally determined metabolite measurements. These were implemented in CorrelationCalculator and Filigree, two software tools for the analysis of metabolomics data we developed previously. The latter tool implements the Differential Network Enrichment Analysis (DNEA) algorithm. This analysis is useful for building differential networks from metabolomics data containing two experimental groups and identifying differentially enriched metabolic modules. While Filigree is a user-friendly tool, it has certain limitations when used for the analysis of large-scale metabolomics datasets. RESULTS We developed the DNEA R package for the data-driven network analysis of metabolomics data. We present the DNEA workflow and functionality, algorithm enhancements implemented with respect to the package's predecessor, Filigree, and discuss best practices for analyses. We tested the performance of the DNEA R package and illustrated its features using publicly available metabolomics data from the environmental determinants of diabetes in the young. To our knowledge, this package is the only publicly available tool designed for the construction of biological networks and subsequent enrichment testing for datasets containing exogenous, secondary, and unknown compounds. This greatly expands the scope of traditional enrichment analysis tools that can be used to analyze a relatively small set of well-annotated metabolites. CONCLUSIONS The DNEA R package is a more flexible and powerful implementation of our previously published software tool, Filigree. The modular structure of the package, along with the parallel processing framework built into the most computationally extensive steps of the algorithm, make it a powerful tool for the analysis of large and complex metabolomics datasets.
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Affiliation(s)
- Christopher Patsalis
- Department of Computational Medicine and Bioinformatics, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, 48109, USA
- Department of Internal Medicine, Hematology/Oncology Division, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, 48109, USA
| | - Gayatri Iyer
- Department of Computational Medicine and Bioinformatics, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, 48109, USA
| | - Marci Brandenburg
- Department of Computational Medicine and Bioinformatics, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, 48109, USA
- Taubman Health Sciences Library, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, 48109, USA
| | - Alla Karnovsky
- Department of Computational Medicine and Bioinformatics, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, 48109, USA.
| | - George Michailidis
- Department of Statistics, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, 32611, USA.
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Fang Y, Yin W, He C, Shen Q, Xu Y, Liu C, Zhou Y, Liu G, Zhao Y, Zhang H, Zhao K. Adverse impact of phthalate and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon mixtures on birth outcomes: A metabolome Exposome-Wide association study. ENVIRONMENTAL POLLUTION (BARKING, ESSEX : 1987) 2024; 357:124460. [PMID: 38945193 DOI: 10.1016/j.envpol.2024.124460] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/18/2024] [Revised: 06/18/2024] [Accepted: 06/25/2024] [Indexed: 07/02/2024]
Abstract
It has been well-investigating that individual phthalates (PAEs) or polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) affect public health. However, there is still a gap that the mixture of PAEs and PAHs impacts birth outcomes. Through innovative methods for mixtures in epidemiology, we used a metabolome Exposome-Wide Association Study (mExWAS) to evaluate and explain the association between exposure to PAEs and PAHs mixtures and birth outcomes. Exposure to a higher level of PAEs and PAHs mixture was associated with lower birth weight (maximum cumulative effect: 143.5 g) rather than gestational age. Mono(2-ethlyhexyl) phthalate (MEHP) (posterior inclusion probability, PIP = 0.51), 9-hydroxyphenanthrene (9-OHPHE) (PIP = 0.53), and 1-hydroxypyrene (1-OHPYR) (PIP = 0.28) were identified as the most important compounds in the mixture. In mExWAS, we successfully annotated four overlapping metabolites associated with both MEHP/9-OHPHE/1-OHPYR and birth weight, including arginine, stearamide, Arg-Gln, and valine. Moreover, several lipid-related metabolism pathways, including fatty acid biosynthesis and degradation, alpha-linolenic acid, and linoleic acid metabolism, were disturbed. In summary, these findings may provide new insights into the underlying mechanisms by which PAE and PAHs affect fetal growth.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yiwei Fang
- Institute of Reproductive Health, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, 430030, China; Center for Reproductive Medicine, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Peking University Third Hospital, No. 49, North Garden Road, Haidian district, Beijing, 100191, China; National Clinical Research Center for Obstetrics and Gynecology, Peking University Third Hospital, Beijing, 100191, China; State Key Laboratory of Female Fertility Promotion, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Peking University Third Hospital, Beijing, 100191, China; Key Laboratory of Assisted Reproduction, Ministry of Education, Peking University, Beijing, 100191, China; Beijing Key Laboratory of Reproductive Endocrinology and Assisted Reproductive Technology, Beijing, 100191, China
| | - Wenjun Yin
- Wuhan Prevention and Treatment Center for Occupational Diseases, Wuhan, 430015, China
| | - Chao He
- Institute of Reproductive Health, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, 430030, China
| | - Qiuzi Shen
- Institute of Reproductive Health, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, 430030, China
| | - Ying Xu
- Institute of Reproductive Health, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, 430030, China
| | - Chunyan Liu
- Institute of Reproductive Health, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, 430030, China
| | - Yuanzhong Zhou
- School of Public Health, Zunyi Medical University, Zunyi, 563060, China
| | - Guotao Liu
- NHC Key Laboratory of Birth Defects Prevention, Henan Institute of Reproduction Health Science and Technology, Zhengzhou, 450000, China
| | - Yun Zhao
- Department of Obstetrics, Maternal and Child Health Hospital of Hubei Province, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan 430070, China
| | - Huiping Zhang
- Institute of Reproductive Health, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, 430030, China; NHC Key Laboratory of Birth Defects Prevention, Henan Institute of Reproduction Health Science and Technology, Zhengzhou, 450000, China
| | - Kai Zhao
- Institute of Reproductive Health, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, 430030, China; NHC Key Laboratory of Birth Defects Prevention, Henan Institute of Reproduction Health Science and Technology, Zhengzhou, 450000, China.
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5
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Holzhausen E, Chalifour BN, Tan Y, Young N, Lurmann F, Jones DP, Sarnat JA, Chang HH, Goran MI, Liang D, Alderete TL. Prenatal and Early Life Exposure to Ambient Air Pollutants Is Associated with the Fecal Metabolome in the First Two Years of Life. ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY 2024; 58:14121-14134. [PMID: 39086199 PMCID: PMC11325649 DOI: 10.1021/acs.est.4c02929] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/28/2024] [Revised: 07/01/2024] [Accepted: 07/02/2024] [Indexed: 08/02/2024]
Abstract
Prenatal and early life air pollution exposure has been linked with several adverse health outcomes. However, the mechanisms underlying these relationships are not yet fully understood. Therefore, this study utilizes fecal metabolomics to determine if pre- and postnatal exposure to ambient air pollutants (i.e., PM10, PM2.5, and NO2) is associated with the fecal metabolome in the first 2 years of life in a Latino cohort from Southern California. The aims of this analysis were to estimate associations between (1) prenatal air pollution exposure with fecal metabolic features at 1-month of age, (2) prior month postnatal air pollution exposure with fecal metabolites from 1-month to 2 years of age, and (3) how postnatal air pollution exposure impacts the change over time of fecal metabolites in the first 2 years of life. Prenatal exposure to air pollutants was associated with several Level-1 metabolites, including those involved in vitamin B6 and tyrosine metabolism. Prior month air pollution exposure in the postnatal period was associated with Level-1 metabolites involved in histidine metabolism. Lastly, we found that pre- and postnatal ambient air pollution exposure was associated with changes in metabolic features involved in metabolic pathways including amino acid metabolism, histidine metabolism, and fatty acid metabolism.
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Affiliation(s)
- Elizabeth
A. Holzhausen
- Department
of Integrative Physiology, University of
Colorado Boulder, Boulder, Colorado 80309, United States
- Department
of Environmental Health and Engineering, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, Maryland 21205, United States
| | - Bridget N. Chalifour
- Department
of Integrative Physiology, University of
Colorado Boulder, Boulder, Colorado 80309, United States
| | - Youran Tan
- Rollins
School of Public Health, Emory University, Atlanta, Georgia 30322, United States
| | - Nathan Young
- Department
of Environmental Health and Engineering, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, Maryland 21205, United States
| | - Fred Lurmann
- Sonoma
Technology Inc., Petaluma, California 94954, United States
| | - Dean P. Jones
- Rollins
School of Public Health, Emory University, Atlanta, Georgia 30322, United States
| | - Jeremy A. Sarnat
- Rollins
School of Public Health, Emory University, Atlanta, Georgia 30322, United States
| | - Howard H. Chang
- Rollins
School of Public Health, Emory University, Atlanta, Georgia 30322, United States
| | - Michael I. Goran
- Children’s
Hospital Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California 90027, United States
| | - Donghai Liang
- Rollins
School of Public Health, Emory University, Atlanta, Georgia 30322, United States
| | - Tanya L. Alderete
- Department
of Environmental Health and Engineering, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, Maryland 21205, United States
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Cai Q, Fu Y, Lyu C, Wang Z, Rao S, Alvarez JA, Bai Y, Kang J, Yu T. A new framework for exploratory network mediator analysis in omics data. Genome Res 2024; 34:642-654. [PMID: 38719472 PMCID: PMC11146592 DOI: 10.1101/gr.278684.123] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/02/2023] [Accepted: 04/11/2024] [Indexed: 06/01/2024]
Abstract
Omics methods are widely used in basic biology and translational medicine research. More and more omics data are collected to explain the impact of certain risk factors on clinical outcomes. To explain the mechanism of the risk factors, a core question is how to find the genes/proteins/metabolites that mediate their effects on the clinical outcome. Mediation analysis is a modeling framework to study the relationship between risk factors and pathological outcomes, via mediator variables. However, high-dimensional omics data are far more challenging than traditional data: (1) From tens of thousands of genes, can we overcome the curse of dimensionality to reliably select a set of mediators? (2) How do we ensure that the selected mediators are functionally consistent? (3) Many biological mechanisms contain nonlinear effects. How do we include nonlinear effects in the high-dimensional mediation analysis? (4) How do we consider multiple risk factors at the same time? To meet these challenges, we propose a new exploratory mediation analysis framework, medNet, which focuses on finding mediators through predictive modeling. We propose new definitions for predictive exposure, predictive mediator, and predictive network mediator, using a statistical hypothesis testing framework to identify predictive exposures and mediators. Additionally, two heuristic search algorithms are proposed to identify network mediators, essentially subnetworks in the genome-scale biological network that mediate the effects of single or multiple exposures. We applied medNet on a breast cancer data set and a metabolomics data set combined with food intake questionnaire data. It identified functionally consistent network mediators for the exposures' impact on the outcome, facilitating data interpretation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Qingpo Cai
- Department of Biostatistics and Bioinformatics, Emory University, Atlanta, Georgia 30322, USA
| | - Yinghao Fu
- Shenzhen Research Institute of Big Data, School of Data Science, the Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shenzhen (CUHK-Shenzhen), Guangdong 518172, P.R. China
- School of Medicine, the Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shenzhen (CUHK-Shenzhen), Guangdong 518172, P.R. China
| | - Cheng Lyu
- Department of Biostatistics and Bioinformatics, Emory University, Atlanta, Georgia 30322, USA
| | - Zihe Wang
- Shenzhen Research Institute of Big Data, School of Data Science, the Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shenzhen (CUHK-Shenzhen), Guangdong 518172, P.R. China
| | - Shun Rao
- Shenzhen Research Institute of Big Data, School of Data Science, the Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shenzhen (CUHK-Shenzhen), Guangdong 518172, P.R. China
| | - Jessica A Alvarez
- Department of Medicine, Emory University, Atlanta, Georgia 30322, USA
| | - Yun Bai
- School of Medicine, the Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shenzhen (CUHK-Shenzhen), Guangdong 518172, P.R. China
| | - Jian Kang
- Department of Biostatistics, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109, USA
| | - Tianwei Yu
- Shenzhen Research Institute of Big Data, School of Data Science, the Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shenzhen (CUHK-Shenzhen), Guangdong 518172, P.R. China;
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Sivalogan K, Liang D, Accardi C, Diaz-Artiga A, Hu X, Mollinedo E, Ramakrishnan U, Teeny SN, Tran V, Clasen TF, Thompson LM, Sinharoy SS. Human Milk Composition Is Associated with Maternal Body Mass Index in a Cross-Sectional, Untargeted Metabolomics Analysis of Human Milk from Guatemalan Mothers. Curr Dev Nutr 2024; 8:102144. [PMID: 38726027 PMCID: PMC11079463 DOI: 10.1016/j.cdnut.2024.102144] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/31/2023] [Revised: 03/12/2024] [Accepted: 03/19/2024] [Indexed: 05/12/2024] Open
Abstract
Background Maternal overweight and obesity has been associated with poor lactation performance including delayed lactogenesis and reduced duration. However, the effect on human milk composition is less well understood. Objectives We evaluated the relationship of maternal BMI on the human milk metabolome among Guatemalan mothers. Methods We used data from 75 Guatemalan mothers who participated in the Household Air Pollution Intervention Network trial. Maternal BMI was measured between 9 and <20 weeks of gestation. Milk samples were collected at a single time point using aseptic collection from one breast at 6 mo postpartum and analyzed using high-resolution mass spectrometry. A cross-sectional untargeted high-resolution metabolomics analysis was performed by coupling hydrophilic interaction liquid chromatography (HILIC) and reverse phase C18 chromatography with mass spectrometry. Metabolic features associated with maternal BMI were determined by a metabolome-wide association study (MWAS), adjusting for baseline maternal age, education, and dietary diversity, and perturbations in metabolic pathways were identified by pathway enrichment analysis. Results The mean age of participants at baseline was 23.62 ± 3.81 y, and mean BMI was 24.27 ± 4.22 kg/m2. Of the total metabolic features detected by HILIC column (19,199 features) and by C18 column (11,594 features), BMI was associated with 1026 HILIC and 500 C18 features. Enriched pathways represented amino acid metabolism, galactose metabolism, and xenobiotic metabolic metabolism. However, no significant features were identified after adjusting for multiple comparisons using the Benjamini-Hochberg false discovery rate procedure (FDRBH < 0.2). Conclusions Findings from this untargeted MWAS indicate that maternal BMI is associated with metabolic perturbations of galactose metabolism, xenobiotic metabolism, and xenobiotic metabolism by cytochrome p450 and biosynthesis of amino acid pathways. Significant metabolic pathway alterations detected in human milk were associated with energy metabolism-related pathways including carbohydrate and amino acid metabolism.This trial was registered at clinicaltrials.gov as NCT02944682.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kasthuri Sivalogan
- Nutrition and Health Sciences, Laney Graduate School, Emory University, Atlanta, Georgia, USA
| | - Donghai Liang
- Gangarosa Department of Environmental Health, Rollins School of Public Health, Emory University, Atlanta, GA, United States
| | - Carolyn Accardi
- Clinical Biomarkers Laboratory, Department of Medicine, Emory University, Atlanta, GA, United States
| | - Anaite Diaz-Artiga
- Center for Health Studies, Universidad del Valle de Guatemala, Guatemala City, Guatemala
| | - Xin Hu
- Clinical Biomarkers Laboratory, Department of Medicine, Emory University, Atlanta, GA, United States
| | - Erick Mollinedo
- Center for Health Studies, Universidad del Valle de Guatemala, Guatemala City, Guatemala
| | - Usha Ramakrishnan
- Hubert Department of Global Health, Rollins School of Public Health, Emory University, Atlanta, GA, United States
- Department of Environmental Health, College of Public Health, University of Georgia, Athens, GA, United States
| | - Sami Nadeem Teeny
- Clinical Biomarkers Laboratory, Department of Medicine, Emory University, Atlanta, GA, United States
| | - ViLinh Tran
- Clinical Biomarkers Laboratory, Department of Medicine, Emory University, Atlanta, GA, United States
| | - Thomas F Clasen
- Gangarosa Department of Environmental Health, Rollins School of Public Health, Emory University, Atlanta, GA, United States
| | - Lisa M Thompson
- Nell Hodgson Woodruff School of Nursing, Emory University, Atlanta, GA, United States
| | - Sheela S Sinharoy
- Hubert Department of Global Health, Rollins School of Public Health, Emory University, Atlanta, GA, United States
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Ma G, Kang J, Yu T. Bayesian functional analysis for untargeted metabolomics data with matching uncertainty and small sample sizes. Brief Bioinform 2024; 25:bbae141. [PMID: 38581417 PMCID: PMC10998539 DOI: 10.1093/bib/bbae141] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/06/2023] [Revised: 02/28/2024] [Accepted: 03/13/2024] [Indexed: 04/08/2024] Open
Abstract
Untargeted metabolomics based on liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry technology is quickly gaining widespread application, given its ability to depict the global metabolic pattern in biological samples. However, the data are noisy and plagued by the lack of clear identity of data features measured from samples. Multiple potential matchings exist between data features and known metabolites, while the truth can only be one-to-one matches. Some existing methods attempt to reduce the matching uncertainty, but are far from being able to remove the uncertainty for most features. The existence of the uncertainty causes major difficulty in downstream functional analysis. To address these issues, we develop a novel approach for Bayesian Analysis of Untargeted Metabolomics data (BAUM) to integrate previously separate tasks into a single framework, including matching uncertainty inference, metabolite selection and functional analysis. By incorporating the knowledge graph between variables and using relatively simple assumptions, BAUM can analyze datasets with small sample sizes. By allowing different confidence levels of feature-metabolite matching, the method is applicable to datasets in which feature identities are partially known. Simulation studies demonstrate that, compared with other existing methods, BAUM achieves better accuracy in selecting important metabolites that tend to be functionally consistent and assigning confidence scores to feature-metabolite matches. We analyze a COVID-19 metabolomics dataset and a mouse brain metabolomics dataset using BAUM. Even with a very small sample size of 16 mice per group, BAUM is robust and stable. It finds pathways that conform to existing knowledge, as well as novel pathways that are biologically plausible.
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Affiliation(s)
- Guoxuan Ma
- Department of Biostatistics, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA
| | - Jian Kang
- Department of Biostatistics, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA
| | - Tianwei Yu
- Shenzhen Research Institute of Big Data, School of Data Science, The Chinese University of Hong Kong - Shenzhen (CUHK-Shenzhen), Shenzhen, Guangdong 518172, China
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Paul KC, Zhang K, Walker DI, Sinsheimer J, Yu Y, Kusters C, Del Rosario I, Folle AD, Keener AM, Bronstein J, Jones DP, Ritz B. Untargeted serum metabolomics reveals novel metabolite associations and disruptions in amino acid and lipid metabolism in Parkinson's disease. Mol Neurodegener 2023; 18:100. [PMID: 38115046 PMCID: PMC10731845 DOI: 10.1186/s13024-023-00694-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 22] [Impact Index Per Article: 11.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/02/2023] [Accepted: 12/06/2023] [Indexed: 12/21/2023] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Untargeted high-resolution metabolomic profiling provides simultaneous measurement of thousands of metabolites. Metabolic networks based on these data can help uncover disease-related perturbations across interconnected pathways. OBJECTIVE Identify metabolic disturbances associated with Parkinson's disease (PD) in two population-based studies using untargeted metabolomics. METHODS We performed a metabolome-wide association study (MWAS) of PD using serum-based untargeted metabolomics data derived from liquid chromatography with high-resolution mass spectrometry (LC-HRMS) using two distinct population-based case-control populations. We also combined our results with a previous publication of 34 metabolites linked to PD in a large-scale, untargeted MWAS to assess external validation. RESULTS LC-HRMS detected 4,762 metabolites for analysis (HILIC: 2716 metabolites; C18: 2046 metabolites). We identified 296 features associated with PD at FDR<0.05, 134 having a log2 fold change (FC) beyond ±0.5 (228 beyond ±0.25). Of these, 104 were independently associated with PD in both discovery and replication studies at p<0.05 (170 at p<0.10), while 27 were associated with levodopa-equivalent dose among the PD patients. Intriguingly, among the externally validated features were the microbial-related metabolites, p-cresol glucuronide (FC=2.52, 95% CI=1.67, 3.81, FDR=7.8e-04) and p-cresol sulfate. P-cresol glucuronide was also associated with motor symptoms among patients. Additional externally validated metabolites associated with PD include phenylacetyl-L-glutamine, trigonelline, kynurenine, biliverdin, and pantothenic acid. Novel associations include the anti-inflammatory metabolite itaconate (FC=0.79, 95% CI=0.73, 0.86; FDR=2.17E-06) and cysteine-S-sulfate (FC=1.56, 95% CI=1.39, 1.75; FDR=3.43E-11). Seventeen pathways were enriched, including several related to amino acid and lipid metabolism. CONCLUSIONS Our results revealed PD-associated metabolites, confirming several previous observations, including for p-cresol glucuronide, and newly implicating interesting metabolites, such as itaconate. Our data also suggests metabolic disturbances in amino acid and lipid metabolism and inflammatory processes in PD.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kimberly C Paul
- Department of Neurology, UCLA David Geffen School of Medicine, Los Angeles, CA, USA.
| | - Keren Zhang
- Department of Epidemiology, UCLA Fielding School of Public Health, Los Angeles, CA, USA
| | - Douglas I Walker
- Gangarosa Department of Environmental Health, Rollins School of Public Health, Emory University, Atlanta, GA, USA
| | - Janet Sinsheimer
- Department of Human Genetics, UCLA David Geffen School of Medicine, Los Angeles, CA, USA
- Department of Biostatistics, UCLA Fielding School of Public Health, Los Angeles, CA, USA
| | - Yu Yu
- Center for Health Policy Research, UCLA Fielding School of Public Health, Los Angeles, CA, USA
| | - Cynthia Kusters
- Department of Human Genetics, UCLA David Geffen School of Medicine, Los Angeles, CA, USA
| | - Irish Del Rosario
- Department of Epidemiology, UCLA Fielding School of Public Health, Los Angeles, CA, USA
| | - Aline Duarte Folle
- Department of Epidemiology, UCLA Fielding School of Public Health, Los Angeles, CA, USA
| | - Adrienne M Keener
- Department of Neurology, UCLA David Geffen School of Medicine, Los Angeles, CA, USA
- Parkinson's Disease Research, Education, and Clinical Center, Greater Los Angeles Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Los Angeles, CA, USA
| | - Jeff Bronstein
- Department of Neurology, UCLA David Geffen School of Medicine, Los Angeles, CA, USA
| | - Dean P Jones
- Department of Medicine, School of Medicine, Emory University, Atlanta, GA, USA
| | - Beate Ritz
- Department of Neurology, UCLA David Geffen School of Medicine, Los Angeles, CA, USA
- Department of Epidemiology, UCLA Fielding School of Public Health, Los Angeles, CA, USA
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10
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Longitudinal profiles of the fecal metabolome during the first 2 years of life. Sci Rep 2023; 13:1886. [PMID: 36732537 PMCID: PMC9895434 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-023-28862-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/16/2022] [Accepted: 01/25/2023] [Indexed: 02/04/2023] Open
Abstract
During the first 2 years of life, the infant gut microbiome is rapidly developing, and gut bacteria may impact host health through the production of metabolites that can have systemic effects. Thus, the fecal metabolome represents a functional readout of gut bacteria. Despite the important role that fecal metabolites may play in infant health, the development of the infant fecal metabolome has not yet been thoroughly characterized using frequent, repeated sampling during the first 2 years of life. Here, we described the development of the fecal metabolome in a cohort of 101 Latino infants with data collected at 1-, 6-, 12-, 18-, and 24-months of age. We showed that the fecal metabolome is highly conserved across time and highly personalized, with metabolic profiles being largely driven by intra-individual variability. Finally, we also identified several novel metabolites and metabolic pathways that changed significantly with infant age, such as valerobetaine and amino acid metabolism, among others.
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11
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Liang D, Batross J, Fiedler N, Prapamontol T, Suttiwan P, Panuwet P, Naksen W, Baumert BO, Yakimavets V, Tan Y, D'Souza P, Mangklabruks A, Sittiwang S, Kaewthit K, Kohsuwan K, Promkam N, Pingwong S, Ryan PB, Barr DB. Metabolome-wide association study of the relationship between chlorpyrifos exposure and first trimester serum metabolite levels in pregnant Thai farmworkers. ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH 2022; 215:114319. [PMID: 36108722 PMCID: PMC9909724 DOI: 10.1016/j.envres.2022.114319] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/23/2022] [Revised: 09/03/2022] [Accepted: 09/07/2022] [Indexed: 06/15/2023]
Abstract
INTRODUCTION Organophosphate (OP) insecticides, including chlorpyrifos, have been linked with numerous harmful health effects on maternal and child health. Limited data are available on the biological mechanisms and endogenous pathways underlying the toxicity of chlorpyrifos exposures on pregnancy and birth outcomes. In this study, we measured a urinary chlorpyrifos metabolite and used high-resolution metabolomics (HRM) to identify biological perturbations associated with chlorpyrifos exposure among pregnant women in Thailand, who are disparately exposed to high levels of OP insecticides. METHODS This study included 50 participants from the Study of Asian Women and their Offspring's Development and Environmental Exposures (SAWASDEE). We used liquid chromatography-high resolution mass spectrometry to conduct metabolic profiling on first trimester serum samples collected from participants to evaluate metabolic perturbations in relation to chlorpyrifos exposures. We measured 3,5,6-trichloro-2-pyridinol (TCPy), a specific metabolite of chlorpyrifos and chlorpyrifos-methyl, in first trimester urine samples to assess the levels of exposures. Following an untargeted metabolome-wide association study workflow, we used generalized linear models, pathway enrichment analyses, and chemical annotation to identify significant metabolites and pathways associated with urinary TCPy levels. RESULTS In the 50 SAWASDEE participants, the median urinary TCPy level was 4.36 μg TCPy/g creatinine. In total, 691 unique metabolic features were found significantly associated with TCPy levels (p < 0.05) after controlling for confounding factors. Pathway analysis of metabolic features associated with TCPy indicated perturbations in 24 metabolic pathways, most closely linked to the production of reactive oxygen species and cellular damage. These pathways include tryptophan metabolism, fatty acid oxidation and peroxisome metabolism, cytochromes P450 metabolism, glutathione metabolism, and vitamin B3 metabolism. We confirmed the chemical identities of 25 metabolites associated with TCPy levels, including glutathione, cystine, arachidic acid, itaconate, and nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide. DISCUSSION The metabolic perturbations associated with TCPy levels were related to oxidative stress, cellular damage and repair, and systemic inflammation, which could ultimately contribute to health outcomes, including neurodevelopmental deficits in the child. These findings support the future development of sensitive biomarkers to investigate the metabolic underpinnings related to pesticide exposure during pregnancy and to understand its link to adverse outcomes in children.
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Affiliation(s)
- Donghai Liang
- Emory University, Rollins School of Public Health, Gangarosa Department of Environmental Health, Atlanta, GA, USA.
| | - Jonathan Batross
- Emory University, Rollins School of Public Health, Gangarosa Department of Environmental Health, Atlanta, GA, USA
| | - Nancy Fiedler
- Rutgers University, Environmental and Occupational Health Science Institute, Piscataway, NJ, USA
| | - Tippawan Prapamontol
- Chiang Mai University, Research Institute for Health Sciences, Chiang Mai, Thailand
| | - Panrapee Suttiwan
- Chulalongkorn University, Faculty of Psychology, LIFE Di Center, Bangkok, Thailand
| | - Parinya Panuwet
- Emory University, Rollins School of Public Health, Gangarosa Department of Environmental Health, Atlanta, GA, USA
| | - Warangkana Naksen
- Chiang Mai University, Faculty of Public Health, Chiang Mai, Thailand
| | - Brittney O Baumert
- Emory University, Rollins School of Public Health, Gangarosa Department of Environmental Health, Atlanta, GA, USA; Department of Population and Public Health Sciences, Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USA
| | - Volha Yakimavets
- Emory University, Rollins School of Public Health, Gangarosa Department of Environmental Health, Atlanta, GA, USA
| | - Youran Tan
- Emory University, Rollins School of Public Health, Gangarosa Department of Environmental Health, Atlanta, GA, USA
| | - Priya D'Souza
- Emory University, Rollins School of Public Health, Gangarosa Department of Environmental Health, Atlanta, GA, USA
| | - Ampica Mangklabruks
- Chiang Mai University, Research Institute for Health Sciences, Chiang Mai, Thailand
| | - Supattra Sittiwang
- Chulalongkorn University, Faculty of Psychology, LIFE Di Center, Bangkok, Thailand
| | | | - Kanyapak Kohsuwan
- Department of Forensic Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Chiang Mai University, Thailand
| | - Nattawadee Promkam
- Chiang Mai University, Research Institute for Health Sciences, Chiang Mai, Thailand
| | - Sureewan Pingwong
- Chiang Mai University, Research Institute for Health Sciences, Chiang Mai, Thailand
| | - P Barry Ryan
- Emory University, Rollins School of Public Health, Gangarosa Department of Environmental Health, Atlanta, GA, USA
| | - Dana Boyd Barr
- Emory University, Rollins School of Public Health, Gangarosa Department of Environmental Health, Atlanta, GA, USA.
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