Integrated analysis of proteomics and metabolomics in girls with central precocious puberty

Serum Metabolomic Analysis of Healthy and Central Precocious Puberty Girls

BACKGROUND

The incidence of precocious puberty (PP) has been on the rise in recent years. Based on different control mechanisms, childhood PP is divided into central precocious puberty (CPP) and peripheral precocious puberty (PPP). CPP accounts for 80% of all PP cases. Metabolomics is considered a link between genomics and phenotypes, providing a direct reflection of intricate biological traits. However, studies on serum metabolomic changes in CPP are very limited.

METHODS

In this study, non-targeted metabolomics analysis of serum from healthy controls and CPP groups was performed. Serum samples were collected from a total of 55 individuals, including 30 girls diagnosed with CPP who had not yet received treatment and did not have any other comorbidities, and 25 healthy girls serving as controls who underwent physical examinations.

RESULTS

A total of 1107 differential metabolites were identified, including 681 upregulated and 426 downregulated ones. The main pathway involved was citrate cycle (TCA cycle), primary bile acid biosynthesis, arginine biosynthesis, purine metabolism, caffeine metabolism, alanine, aspartate and glutamate metabolism, valine, leucine and isoleucine biosynthesis, beta-alanine metabolism, taurine and hypotaurine metabolism, inositol phosphate metabolism, sphingolipid metabolism, pyruvate metabolism, propanoate metabolism, butanoate metabolism, C5-branched dibasic acid metabolism, sulphur metabolism, carbon metabolism and biosynthesis of amino acids.

CONCLUSION

A total of 14 metabolites were identified through non-targeted metabolomics combined with four major metabolic network analyses. The above metabolites form a metabolic network that may serve as a novel marker and potential combined therapeutic target for the diagnosis of CPP.

Lipidomic Analysis of Serum Lipid Profiles in Idiopathic Central Precocious Puberty and the Potential Regulatory Role of GnRHa in Lipid Metabolism

Idiopathic central precocious puberty (ICPP) is an endocrine disorder increasingly observed in children, commonly treated with gonadotropin-releasing hormone agonists (GnRHa). However, the serum lipid profiles in girls with ICPP and the potential regulatory effects of GnRHa in lipid metabolism remain unclear. This research analyzed lipidomic profiles of serum samples from girls younger than 10 years of age, including 37 patients with ICPP, 32 ICPP patients treated with GnRHa, and 30 age-matched healthy controls. Using UHPLC-Q-Exactive Orbitrap/MS, we identified a total of 898 differential lipids in both positive and negative modes, covering classes such as phosphatidylcholine (PC, including EtherPC), acylcarnitine (CAR), triglyceride (TG), N-acyl ethanolamines (NAEs), diacylglycerol (DG), sphingomyelin (SM), phosphatidylethanolamine (PE), ceramide (Cer), and fatty acids (FAs). In the ICPP cohort, 105 lipids exhibited significant differences compared with controls, with increased levels of CAR, SM, PC, PE, TG, and FA (p < 0.05), and notably decreased NAE levels (p < 0.05). Specifically, NAE 20:1 (AUC: 1.0), NAE 18:2 (AUC: 0.948), and NAE 20:0 (AUC: 0.895) were identified as potential diagnostic biomarkers for ICPP. Following GnRHa treatment, serum peak LH and FSH levels decreased, alongside reversible changes in 44 lipids, predominantly CAR, NAE, and TG. In conclusion, this study demonstrates that ICPP is associated with significant alterations in lipid metabolism. The lipidomic changes induced by GnRHa therapy suggest a potential link between ICPP treatment and lipid homeostasis, which warrants further investigation to refine therapeutic approaches for ICPP and potentially mitigate associated metabolic disorders.

Integrated analysis of proteomics and metabolomics in infantile epileptic spasms syndrome

Infantile Epileptic Spasms Syndrome (IESS) is a severe developmental epileptic encephalopathy that manifests in infancy, significantly impacting the health and quality of life of affected children. The treatment of IESS poses a significant challenge, primarily due to the incomplete understanding of its etiology and pathogenesis. Objective: This study aims to investigate the pathogenic mechanisms of IESS, utilizing metabolomics and proteomics analyses to uncover potential biomarkers for the disease, thereby providing new insights for diagnostic and therapeutic strategies. Cerebrospinal fluid samples from 6 IESS patients and 6 control subjects with benign intracranial hypertension were collected and analyzed using metabolomics and proteomics techniques. Significant differential metabolites and proteins were identified and correlated to determine key proteins associated with specific metabolites. The study then expanded the sample size to 10 per group and validated the identified proteins through ELISA analysis. A total of 24 differential metabolites (12 upregulated and 12 downregulated) and 79 differential proteins (18 upregulated and 61 downregulated) were identified. Metabolomic analysis suggests that linoleic acid is a highly noteworthy differential metabolite in the cerebrospinal fluid of IESS patients. The associated differential protein HLA-A and SEZ6L2 proteins were notably downregulated (p < 0.05). Linoleic acid and its metabolism-related proteins HLA-A and SEZ6L2 could serve as potential biomarkers for IESS, providing new insights into the complex pathogenic mechanisms of the disease. Additionally, these findings also assist in identifying new therapeutic targets and developing more effective treatment strategies.

Development of Serum Cell-Free miRNA Panel for Identification of Central Precocious Puberty and Premature Thelarche in Girls

Precocious puberty of children, especially girls, has attracted more and more public attention in recent years. In clinic practice, there is a lack of both convenient and effective way to identify central precocious puberty (CPP) and premature thelarche (PT). In this study, we enrolled total 88 girls [28 cases of CPP, 37 cases of PT, as well as 23 cases of normal control (NC)] as a training cohort, and another 270 subjects (92 cases of CPP, 122 cases of PT and 56 cases of NC) as a validation cohort. Expression of serum cell-free miRNA in the training cohort was analyzed using five different methods to identify specific miRNA feature subsets, and verified by qPCR in the validation cohort. Here, we determined that the combination of miRNAs (miR-584-5p, miR-625-3p, miRNA-652-3p, miR-22-3p) provided the possibility to distinguish CPP and PT. The miRNA panel (miR-625-3p, let-7b-5p, miR-140-5p, miR-7-5p) had the best performance in distinguishing between CPP and NC. The miRNA panel (miR-140-5p, miR-205-5p, let-7b-5p, miR-629-5p, miR-9-3p) performed well in identifying PT and NC. Based on the absolute quantification of miRNA by qPCR, we also presented three regression equations to evaluate CPP, PT, and NC, respectively, for possible use in clinical practice. The presented study had identified several sets of miRNA panels as biomarkers to assist in identifying CPP and PT. Our invention could provide better diagnostic tool for pediatric precocious puberty diseases in both clinical and public health fields.

Gut microbiota-metabolite interactions meditate the effect of dietary patterns on precocious puberty

Precocious puberty, a pediatric endocrine disorder classified as central precocious puberty (CPP) or peripheral precocious puberty (PPP), is influenced by diet, gut microbiota, and metabolites, but the specific mechanisms remain unclear. Our study found that increased alpha-diversity and abundance of short-chain fatty acid-producing bacteria led to elevated levels of luteinizing hormone and follicle-stimulating hormone, contributing to precocious puberty. The integration of specific microbiota and metabolites has potential diagnostic value for precocious puberty. The Prevotella genus-controlled interaction factor, influenced by complex carbohydrate consumption, mediated a reduction in estradiol levels. Interactions between obesity-related bacteria and metabolites mediated the beneficial effect of seafood in reducing luteinizing hormone levels, reducing the risk of obesity-induced precocious puberty, and preventing progression from PPP to CPP. This study provides valuable insights into the complex interplay between diet, gut microbiota and metabolites in the onset, development and clinical classification of precocious puberty and warrants further investigation.

Multi-omic analysis of precocious puberty girls: pathway changes and metabolite validation

Objective

Precocious puberty (PP) is a prevalent endocrine disorder affecting the physical and mental wellbeing of children. Identifying the triggering factors of PP has become a central issue. This study seeks to investigate the metabolomic and transcriptomic alterations in PP.

Material and methods

First, 37 school-aged girls diagnosed with PP and 25 age-matched prepubertal control girls were recruited, and the fecal samples were collected for non-targeted metabolomic analysis to screen for differentially expressed metabolites (DEMs). Subsequently, an animal model of PP was constructed by danazol administration to neonatal female rats, and both fecal non-targeted metabolomics and serum next-generation transcriptomic sequencing were performed to screen DEMs and differentially expressed genes (DEGs) in PP. Moreover, the DEM co-existing in clinical and animal models was administrated to PP rats to explore the role of the target metabolite in PP.

Results

A total of 24 DEMs in PP clinical samples and 180 DEMs and 425 DEGs in PP animal samples were identified. The Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) pathway analysis showed that these DEMs and DEGs were enriched in disease-associated pathways, including fatty acid synthesis, glycerolipid metabolism, pyrimidine metabolism, steroid hormone biosynthesis, progesterone-mediated oocyte maturation, and gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH) signaling pathway, forming a tight DEM-DEG pathway regulatory network. Further DEM validation demonstrated that thymine supplementation delayed the opening of the vagina and development of PP in model rats.

Conclusion

This study reveals that the metabolomic and transcriptomic changes, along with enriched pathways, are implicated in PP based on clinical and animal analyses. The findings may provide new strategies and research avenues for PP treatment.

Organic metal chalcogenide-assisted metabolic molecular diagnosis of central precocious puberty

Metabolic analysis in biofluids based on laser desorption/ionization mass spectrometry (LDI-MS), featuring rapidity, simplicity, small sample volume and high throughput, is expected to be a powerful diagnostic tool. Nevertheless, the signals of most metabolic biomarkers obtained by matrix-assisted LDI-MS are too limited to achieve a highly accurate diagnosis due to serious background interference. To address this issue, nanomaterials have been frequently adopted in LDI-MS as substrates. However, the "trial and error" approach still dominates the development of new substrates. Therefore, rational design of novel LDI-MS substrates showing high desorption/ionization efficiency and no background interference is extremely desired. Herein, four few-layered organic metal chalcogenides (OMCs) were precisely designed and for the first time investigated as substrates in LDI-MS, which allowed a favorable internal energy and charge transfer by changing the functional groups of organic ligands and metal nodes. As a result, the optimized OMC-assisted platform satisfyingly enhanced the mass signal by ≈10 000 fold in detecting typical metabolites and successfully detected different saccharides. In addition, a high accuracy diagnosis of central precocious puberty (CPP) with potential biomarkers of 12 metabolites was realized. This work is not only expected to provide a universal detection tool for large-scale clinical diagnosis, but also provides an idea for the design and selection of LDI-MS substrates.

Association of size for gestational age and dehydroepiandrosterone sulfate with cardiometabolic risk in central precocious puberty girls

OBJECTIVE

The aim of this study was to assess whether size for gestational age and dehydroepiandrosterone sulfate (DHEAS) are associated with cardiometabolic risk in central precocious puberty (CPP) girls.

METHODS

The retrospective study included 443 patients with newly diagnosed CPP. Subjects were categorized by birth weight for gestational age (appropriate [AGA], small [SGA], and large [LGA] for gestational age) and serum DHEAS concentration (high [≥75th percentile] and normal [<75th percentile] DHEAS). Cardiometabolic parameters were examined. Composite cardiometabolic risk (CMR) score was calculated based on BMI, blood pressure, glucose, insulin, triglyceride, and HDL cholesterol. Non-obesity CMR score was computed, omitting the value from BMI. Logistic regression models, general linear models, and partial correlation analyses were used to evaluate associations. Propensity score matching was performed for sensitivity analyses.

RESULTS

Overall, 309 patients (69.8%) were born AGA, 80 (18.1%) were born SGA, and 54 (12.2%) were born LGA. Compared with AGA counterparts, CPP girls born SGA were more prone to have elevated HbA1c (adjusted OR = 4.54; 95% CI, 1.43-14.42) and low HDL cholesterol (adjusted OR = 2.33; 95% CI, 1.18-4.61). In contrast, being born LGA was not associated with increased risk for any glucose or lipid derangements. Despite the fact that elevated CMR score was more common among individuals born LGA than AGA (adjusted OR = 1.84; 95% CI, 1.07-4.35), no significant difference was found on non-obesity CMR score (adjusted OR = 0.75; 95% CI, 0.30-1.88). When controlling for age, birth weight SDS, and current BMI-SDS, individuals with high DHEAS exhibited higher HDL cholesterol and apolipoprotein A-1 concentrations and lower triglyceride level and non-obesity CMR score. Furthermore, DHEAS correlated positively with HDL cholesterol and apolipoprotein A-1 and negatively with triglyceride, prominently in girls born SGA, after adjustments for the three abovementioned confounders. Sensitivity analyses corroborated the findings.

CONCLUSION

Among CPP girls, those born SGA were more likely to possess cardiometabolic risk factors compared to their AGA peers. The difference we observed in cardiometabolic risk between individuals born LGA and AGA was driven by BMI. High DHEAS was associated with favorable lipid profile in CPP girls, even in subjects born SGA.

Comprehensive analysis of untargeted metabolomics and lipidomics in girls with central precocious puberty

Objective

Central precocious puberty (CPP) is a rare condition that causes early sexual development in children. Although the cure is effective, the etiology of central precocious puberty is unclear.

Methods

In total, 10 girls with central precocious puberty and same number of age-matched female controls were enrolled. Plasma samples were collected from each participant and subjected to untargeted metabolomics and lipidomics. Student's t-tests were employed to compare the mean of each metabolite and lipid. Furthermore, orthogonal partial least-squares discriminant analysis was conducted and the variable importance in the projection was calculated to identify differentially expressed metabolites or lipids. Subsequent bioinformatics was conducted to investigate the potential function of differentially expressed metabolites and lipids.

Results

Fifty-nine differentially expressed metabolites were identified based on the criteria used (variable importance in the projection >1 and a P value < 0.05). Kyoto Encyclopedia Genes and Genome (KEGG) enrichment analysis showed that differentially expressed metabolites were enriched in four pathways: beta-alanine metabolism, histidine metabolism, bile secretion, and steroid hormone biosynthesis. As for the lipidomics, 41 differentially expressed lipids were observed and chain length analysis and lipid saturation analysis yielded similar results. Significant differences between the two groups were only observed in (O-acyl) ω-hydroxy fatty acids (OAHFA).

Conclusion

The present study showed that antibiotic overuse, increased meat consumption, and obesity may have potential roles in the development of central precocious puberty in girls. Several metabolites have diagnostic value but further research is required.