Metabolomic Analysis of Respiratory Epithelial Lining Fluid in Patients with Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease—A Systematic Review

• Published in: Cells (Basel, Switzerland) Vol. 12; no. 6; p. 833
• Main Authors: Pulik, Kaja, Mycroft, Katarzyna, Korczyński, Piotr, Ciechanowicz, Andrzej K., Górska, Katarzyna
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Switzerland MDPI AG 01.03.2023; MDPI
• Subjects: Adult; Airway management; Asthma; BALF; Biomarkers; Body fluids; Bronchitis; Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease; cigarette smoke; COPD; EBC; Emphysema; Eosinophilia; Epithelial cells; Fatty acids; Health aspects; Humans; induced sputum; Lavage; lipidomics; Lipids; Lung diseases; Lung diseases, Obstructive; Mass spectrometry; Metabolic pathways; Metabolism; Metabolites; Metabolome; Metabolomics; Obstructive lung disease; Ornithine; Patients; Phenotypes; Phosphatidylethanolamine; Physiological aspects; Public health; Pulmonary Disease, Chronic Obstructive - metabolism; Review; Scientific imaging; Smoking; Sphingolipids; Systematic review; VOCs; Volatile Organic Compounds; Poland; metabolomics; BALF; EBC; induced sputum; metabolic alterations; cigarette smoke; lipidomics; metabolome; COPD
• ISSN: 2073-4409; 2073-4409
• DOI: 10.3390/cells12060833

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), as the third leading cause of death among adults, is a significant public health problem around the world. However, about 75% of smokers do not develop the disease despite the severe smoking burden. COPD is a heterogeneous disease, and several phenotypes, with differences in their clinical picture and response to treatment, have been distinguished. Metabolomic studies provide information on metabolic pathways, and therefore are a promising tool for understanding disease etiopathogenesis and the development of effective causal treatment. The aim of this systematic review was to analyze the metabolome of the respiratory epithelial lining fluid of patients with COPD, compared to healthy volunteers, refractory smokers, and subjects with other lung diseases. We included observational human studies. Sphingolipids, phosphatidylethanolamines, and sphingomyelins distinguished COPD from non-smokers; volatile organic compounds, lipids, and amino acids distinguished COPD from smokers without the disease. Five volatile organic compounds were correlated with eosinophilia and four were associated with a phenotype with frequent exacerbations. Fatty acids and ornithine metabolism were correlated with the severity of COPD. Metabolomics, by searching for biomarkers and distinguishing metabolic pathways, can allow us to understand the pathophysiology of COPD and the development of its phenotypes.