Targeted Blood Metabolomic Study on Retinopathy of Prematurity

• Published in: Investigative ophthalmology & visual science Vol. 61; no. 2; p. 12
• Main Authors: Yang, Yuhang, Wu, Zhenquan, Li, Sitao, Yang, Mingmin, Xiao, Xin, Lian, Chaohui, Wen, Wei, He, Honghui, Zeng, Jian, Wang, Jiantao, Zhang, Guoming
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States The Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology 01.02.2020
• Subjects: Biomarkers - metabolism; Female; Gestational Age; Humans; Infant, Newborn; Infant, Premature; Male; Metabolomics - methods; Prospective Studies; Retina; Retinopathy of Prematurity - diagnosis; ROC Curve
• ISSN: 1552-5783; 0146-0404; 1552-5783
• DOI: 10.1167/iovs.61.2.12

This study aims at exploring alterations of major metabolites and metabolic pathways in retinopathy of prematurity (ROP) infants and identifying biomarkers that may merit early diagnosis of ROP. We analyzed targeted metabolites from 81 premature infants (<34 weeks of gestational age), including 40 ROP cases (15 males and 25 females, birth weight 1.263 ± 0. 345 kg, gestational age 31.20 ± 4.62 weeks) and 41 cases (30 males, 11 females, birth weight 1.220 ± 0.293 kg, gestational age 30.96 ± 4.17 weeks) of well-matched non-ROP controls. Metabolites were measured by ultra-performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry. Standard multivariate and univariate analysis was performed to interpret metabolomic results. Glycine, glutamate, leucine, serine, piperidine, valine, tryptophan, citrulline, malonyl carnitine (C3DC), and homocysteine were identified as the top discriminant metabolites. In particular, discriminant concentrations of C3DC and glycine were also confirmed by univariate analysis as statistically significant different between ROP and non-ROP infants. This study gained an insight into the metabolomic aspects of ROP development. We suggest that higher blood levels of C3DC and glycine can be promising biomarkers to predict the occurrence, but not the severity of ROP.