Objective Pain is a major symptom of osteoarthritis (OA); currently available analgesics either do not provide adequate pain relief or are associated with serious side effects. The aim of this study was to investigate the therapeutic potential of targeting the resolvin receptor system to modify OA pain and pathology. Methods Gene expression of 2 resolvin receptors (ALX and ChemR23) was quantified in synovium and medial tibial plateau specimens obtained from patients with OA at the time of joint replacement surgery. Two models of OA joint pain were used for the mechanistic studies. Gene expression in the joint and central nervous system was quantified. The effects of exogenous administration of the D series resolvin precursor 17(R)‐hydroxy‐docosahexaenoic acid (17[R]‐HDoHE) on pain behavior, joint pathology, spinal microglia, and astroglyosis were quantified. Plasma levels of relevant lipids, resolvin D2, 17(R)‐HDoHE, and arachidonic acid, were determined in rats, using liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry. Results There was a positive correlation between resolvin receptor and interleukin‐6 (IL‐6) expression in human OA synovial and medial tibial plateau tissue. In rats, synovial expression of ALX was positively correlated with expression of IL‐1β, tumor necrosis factor, and cyclooxygenase 2. Treatment with 17(R)‐HDoHE reversed established pain behavior (but not joint pathology) in 2 models of OA pain. This was associated with a significant elevation in the plasma levels of resolvin D2 and a significant reduction in astrogliosis in the spinal cord in the monosodium iodoacetate–induced OA rat model. Conclusion Our preclinical data demonstrate the robust analgesic effects of activation of the D series resolvin pathways in 2 different animal models of OA. Our data support a predominant central mechanism of action in clinically relevant models of OA pain.
17102 Background: Patients with lung cancer account for approximately 50% of brain metastasis cases. On the other hand the majority of active cytotoxic agents (like taxanes) in lung cancer treatment, are unable to penetrate blood brain barrier (BBB) so the role of chemotherapy in management of brain metastasis from lung cancer remain controversial. To investigate predisposing factors (if any) of penetration of BBB from cytotoxic agents we measured concentation levels of Docetaxel in serum and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) during first line chemotherapy. Methods: Twelve lung cancer patients receiving chemotherapy consisted of Docetaxel (100 mg/m 2 ) and Carboplatin AUC 6 were included in this study. CSF and plasma samples were withdrawn half an hour after termination of chemotherapy infusion. Measurements were performed with high performance liquid chromatography and UV detection was at 227 nm. Results: Mean levels of docetaxel in blood was 2,5530 ± 0,53 mg/l and in CSF 0,7397 ± 0,22 mg/l. Three out of twelve patient had SCLC (2 with ED and 1 with LD) and 9 with NSCLC (2 stage IIIB and 7 stage IV). In three patients without metastasis no detectible level of docetaxel was measured. We were also unable to detect Docetaxel in CSF of the patient with NSCLC and metastasis in the ipsilateral lung. On the other hand in 9 patients with metastatic disease (4 brain metastasis 2 with bone metastasis 1 with metastasis in liver and adrenal and 2 with liver and bone metastasis) had detectable levels of docetaxel in CSF. There was not statistically significant correlation of docetaxel in plasma and CSF. Only one patient without any evidence of metastasis had a detectable level of Docetaxel in CSF (0,33229) but in 6 weeks a brain metastasis was apparent in brain MRI. Conclusions: Metastasis development seems to be associated with a modification of BBB penetration. If Docetaxel penetrates BBB (especially in the presence of brain metastasis) it would be probable to accelerate radiotherapy sensitivity of brain metastasis. No significant financial relationships to disclose.
Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a neurodegenerative inflammatory disease where an autoimmune response to components of the central nervous system leads to a loss of myelin and subsequent neurological deterioration. People with MS can develop primary or secondary progressive disease (PPMS, SPMS) and differentiation of the specific differences in the pathogenesis of these two courses, at the molecular level, is currently unclear. Recently, lipidomics studies using human biofluids, mainly plasma and cerebrospinal fluid, have highlighted a possible role for lipids in the initiation and progression of MS. However, there is a lack of lipidomics studies in MS on CNS tissues, such as normal-appearing white matter (NAWM), where local inflammation initially occurs. Herein, we developed an untargeted reverse phase ultra-performance liquid chromatography time of flight tandem mass spectrometry (RP-UPLC-TOF MSE)-based workflow, in combination with multivariate and univariate statistical analysis, to assess significant differences in lipid profiles in brain NAWM from post-mortem cases of PPMS, SPMS and controls. Groups of eight control, nine PPMS and seven SPMS NAWM samples were used. Correlation analysis of the identified lipids by RP-UPLC-TOF MSE was undertaken to remove those lipids that correlated with age, gender and post-mortem interval as confounding factors. We demonstrate that there is a significantly altered lipid profile of control cases compared with MS cases and that progressive disease, PPMS and SPMS, can be differentiated on the basis of the lipidome of NAWM with good sensitivity, specificity and prediction accuracy based on receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis. Metabolic pathway analysis revealed that the most altered lipid pathways between PPMS and SPMS were glycerophospholipid metabolism, glycerophosphatidyl inositol (GPI) anchor synthesis and linoleic acid metabolism. Further understanding of the impact of these lipid alterations described herein associated with progression will provide an increased understanding of the mechanisms underpinning progression and highlight possible new therapeutic targets.
Urinary tract infections (UTI) of sows (characterized by ascending infections of the urinary bladder (cyst), ureters, and renal pelvis), are major health issues with a significant economic impact to the swine industry. The current detection of UTI incidents lacks sensitivity; thus, UTIs remain largely under-diagnosed. The value of metabolomics in unraveling the mechanisms of sow UTI has not yet been established. This study aims to investigate the urine metabolome of sows for UTI biomarkers. Urine samples were collected from 58 culled sows from a farrow-to-finish herd in Greece. Urine metabolomic profiles in 31 healthy controls and in 27 inflammatory ones were evaluated. UHPLC-qTOF MS/MS was applied for the analysis with a combination of multivariate and univariate statistical analysis. Eighteen potential markers were found. The changes in several urine metabolites classes (nucleosides, indoles, isoflavones, and dipeptides), as well as amino-acids allowed for an adequate discrimination between the study groups. Identified metabolites were involved in purine metabolism; phenylalanine; tyrosine and tryptophan biosynthesis; and phenylalanine metabolism. Through ROC analysis it was shown that the 18 identified metabolite biomarkers exhibited good predictive accuracy. In summary, our study provided new information on the potential targets for predicting early and accurate diagnosis of UTI. Further, this information also sheds light on how it could be applied in live animals.
Metabolite identification remains a bottleneck and a still unregulated area in untargeted LC-MS metabolomics. The metabolomics research community and, in particular, the metabolomics standards initiative (MSI) proposed minimum reporting standards for metabolomics including those for reporting metabolite identification as long ago as 2007. Initially, four levels were proposed ranging from level 1 (unambiguously identified analyte) to level 4 (unidentified analyte). This scheme was expanded in 2014, by independent research groups, to give five levels of confidence. Both schemes provided guidance to the researcher and described the logical steps that had to be made to reach a confident reporting level. These guidelines have been presented and discussed extensively, becoming well-known to authors, editors, and reviewers for academic publications. Despite continuous promotion within the metabolomics community, the application of such guidelines is questionable. The scope of this meta-analysis was to systematically review the current LC-MS-based literature and effectively determine the proportion of papers following the proposed guidelines. Also, within the scope of this meta-analysis was the measurement of the actual identification levels reported in the literature, that is to find how many of the published papers really reached full metabolite identification (level 1) and how many papers did not reach this level.
Abstract Introduction Osteoarthritis (OA) is the most common form of joint disease, causing pain and disability. Previous studies have demonstrated the role of lipid mediators in OA pathogenesis. Objectives To explore potential alterations in the plasma lipidomic profile in an established mouse model of OA, with a view to identification of potential biomarkers of pain and/or pathology. Methods Pain behaviour was assessed following destabilisation of the medial meniscus (DMM) model of OA (n = 8 mice) and compared to sham controls (n = 7). Plasma and knee joints were collected at 16 weeks post-surgery. Plasma samples were analysed using ultra-high performance liquid chromatography accurate mass high resolution mass spectrometry (UHPLC-HR-MS) to identify potential differences in the lipidome, using multivariate and univariate statistical analyses. Correlations between pain behaviour, joint pathology and levels of lipids were investigated. Results 24 lipids, predominantly from the lipid classes of cholesterol esters (CE), fatty acids (FA), phosphatidylcholines (PC), N -acylethanolamines (NAE) and sphingomyelins (SM), were differentially expressed in DMM plasma compared to sham plasma. Six of these lipids which were increased in the DMM model were identified as CE(18:2), CE(20:4), CE(22:6), PC(18:0/18:2), PC(38:7) and SM(d34:1). CEs were positively correlated with pain behaviour and all six lipid species were positively correlated with cartilage damage. Pathways shown to be involved in altered lipid homeostasis in OA were steroid biosynthesis and sphingolipid metabolism. Conclusion We identify plasma lipid species associated with pain and/or pathology in a DMM model of OA.
Omega-6 FAs are inflammatory mediators that are increased in joints with osteoarthritis (OA), but their association with OA progression is not yet well defined. To investigate the relationship between omega-6 FAs and knee OA, we measured with LC-MS the levels of 22 omega-6 lipids (arachidonic acid, linoleic acid, and 20 oxylipins) in synovial fluid (SF) from 112 knees of 102 individuals (58 with knee OA; 44 controls). We hypothesized that oxylipin metabolites would increase in OA knee SF and with radiographically progressive disease. We validated results by comparing samples from affected and unaffected knees in 10 individuals with unilateral OA. In adjusted analysis, SF levels of three omega-6 oxylipins [prostaglandin D2, 11,12-dihydroxyeicosatrienoic acid (DHET), and 14,15-DHET] were associated with OA. Of these, 11,12-DHET and 14,15-DHET were higher in affected versus unaffected knees of people with unilateral disease (P < 0.014 and P < 0.003, respectively). Levels of these and 8,9-DHET were also associated with radiographic progression over 3.3 years in 87 individuals. Circulating levels of all three were associated with gene variants at the soluble epoxide hydrolase enzyme. Lipidomic profiling in SF identified an additional inflammatory pathway associated with knee OA and radiographic progression. Omega-6 FAs are inflammatory mediators that are increased in joints with osteoarthritis (OA), but their association with OA progression is not yet well defined. To investigate the relationship between omega-6 FAs and knee OA, we measured with LC-MS the levels of 22 omega-6 lipids (arachidonic acid, linoleic acid, and 20 oxylipins) in synovial fluid (SF) from 112 knees of 102 individuals (58 with knee OA; 44 controls). We hypothesized that oxylipin metabolites would increase in OA knee SF and with radiographically progressive disease. We validated results by comparing samples from affected and unaffected knees in 10 individuals with unilateral OA. In adjusted analysis, SF levels of three omega-6 oxylipins [prostaglandin D2, 11,12-dihydroxyeicosatrienoic acid (DHET), and 14,15-DHET] were associated with OA. Of these, 11,12-DHET and 14,15-DHET were higher in affected versus unaffected knees of people with unilateral disease (P < 0.014 and P < 0.003, respectively). Levels of these and 8,9-DHET were also associated with radiographic progression over 3.3 years in 87 individuals. Circulating levels of all three were associated with gene variants at the soluble epoxide hydrolase enzyme. Lipidomic profiling in SF identified an additional inflammatory pathway associated with knee OA and radiographic progression. Osteoarthritis (OA) is the most common form of arthritis, and inflammation of the synovium (synovitis) is often evident in affected joints (1.Glyn-Jones S. Palmer A.J. Agricola R. Price A.J. Vincent T.L. Weinans H. Carr A.J. Osteoarthritis.Lancet. 2015; 386: 376-387Abstract Full Text Full Text PDF PubMed Scopus (1470) Google Scholar). Synovitis has been implicated as a cause of cartilage loss (2.Ayral X. Pickering E.H. Woodworth T.G. Mackillop N. Dougados M. Synovitis: a potential predictive factor of structural progression of medial tibiofemoral knee osteoarthritis–results of a 1 year longitudinal arthroscopic study in 422 patients.Osteoarthritis Cartilage. 2005; 13: 361-367Abstract Full Text Full Text PDF PubMed Scopus (436) Google Scholar, 3.Scanzello C.R. Goldring S.R. The role of synovitis in osteoarthritis pathogenesis.Bone. 2012; 51: 249-257Crossref PubMed Scopus (694) Google Scholar) indicating that the inflammatory processes that take place in the OA synovium may be important contributors to disease progression (3.Scanzello C.R. Goldring S.R. The role of synovitis in osteoarthritis pathogenesis.Bone. 2012; 51: 249-257Crossref PubMed Scopus (694) Google Scholar). It has been assumed that the main drivers for this process are pro-inflammatory cytokines and prostaglandins (PGs) [e.g., see (4.Mathiessen A. Conaghan P.G. Synovitis in osteoarthritis: current understanding with therapeutic implications.Arthritis Res. Ther. 2017; 19: 18Crossref PubMed Scopus (449) Google Scholar)], the latter being omega-6 pro-inflammatory mediators. In addition to the role of PGs, several studies have implicated omega-6 PUFAs, which can be pro- or anti-inflammatory, in the pathogenesis of OA. A low ratio of omega-6/omega-3 PUFAs reduces the expression of the cartilage degeneration enzyme matrix metalloproteinase 13 and reduces adjuvant-induced arthritis in rats (5.Yu H. Li Y. Ma L. Meng H. Bai X. Fan Z. Yu F. Guo A. A low ratio of n-6/n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids suppresses matrix metalloproteinase 13 expression and reduces adjuvant-induced arthritis in rats.Nutr. Res. 2015; 35: 1113-1121Crossref PubMed Scopus (23) Google Scholar). In a murine model of OA, serum levels of omega-6 PUFAs [arachidonic acid (AA), eicosadienoic acid, γ linoleic acid (LNA), and dihomo-γ-linolenic acid] correlated positively with OA, impaired healing, and inflammatory adipokines (6.Wu C.L. Kimmerling K.A. Little D. Guilak F. Serum and synovial fluid lipidomic profiles predict obesity-associated osteoarthritis, synovitis, and wound repair.Sci. Rep. 2017; 7: 44315Crossref PubMed Scopus (38) Google Scholar). In humans, a positive association between the plasma omega-6 PUFAs, AA, and synovitis has been reported (7.Baker K.R. Matthan N.R. Lichtenstein A.H. Niu J. Guermazi A. Roemer F. Grainger A. Nevitt M.C. Clancy M. Lewis C.E. et al.Association of plasma n-6 and n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids with synovitis in the knee: the MOST study.Osteoarthritis Cartilage. 2012; 20: 382-387Abstract Full Text Full Text PDF PubMed Scopus (79) Google Scholar) and increased levels of AA have been found in the infrapatellar fat in knee OA compared with controls (8.Gierman L.M. Wopereis S. van El B. Verheij E.R. Werff-van der Vat B.J. Bastiaansen-Jenniskens Y.M. van Osch G.J. Kloppenburg M. Stojanovic-Susulic V. Huizinga T.W. et al.Metabolic profiling reveals differences in concentrations of oxylipins and fatty acids secreted by the infrapatellar fat pad of donors with end-stage osteoarthritis and normal donors.Arthritis Rheum. 2013; 65: 2606-2614PubMed Google Scholar). PUFAs derived either from omega-6 (LNA, dihomo-γ-linolenic acid, AA) or omega-3 PUFAs are substrates for a number of different enzymes that generate biologically active oxygenated metabolites known as oxylipins (9.Strassburg K. Huijbrechts A.M. Kortekaas K.A. Lindeman J.H. Pedersen T.L. Dane A. Berger R. Brenkman A. Hankemeier T. van Duynhoven J. et al.Quantitative profiling of oxylipins through comprehensive LC-MS/MS analysis: application in cardiac surgery.Anal. Bioanal. Chem. 2012; 404: 1413-1426Crossref PubMed Scopus (182) Google Scholar). Oxylipins are generated via the cyclooxygenase (COX), lipoxygenase (LOX), and cytochrome P450 pathways (10.Gabbs M. Leng S. Devassy J.G. Monirujjaman M. Aukema H.M. Advances in our understanding of oxylipins derived from dietary PUFAs.Adv. Nutr. 2015; 6: 513-540Crossref PubMed Scopus (405) Google Scholar, 11.Wong A. Sagar D.R. Ortori C.A. Kendall D.A. Chapman V. Barrett D.A. Simultaneous tissue profiling of eicosanoid and endocannabinoid lipid families in a rat model of osteoarthritis.J. Lipid Res. 2014; 55: 1902-1913Abstract Full Text Full Text PDF PubMed Scopus (38) Google Scholar). The COX pathway produces PGs and thromboxanes. The LOX pathway, which includes 5-LOX, 12-LOX, and 15-LOX, produces leukotrienes and HETEs from AA, as well as HODEs from LNA. The cytochrome 450 pathway predominantly produces epoxyeicosatrienoic acids (EETs), dihydroxyeicosatrienoic acids (DHETs), and HETEs from AA, and epoxyoctadecamonoenoic acids and dihydroxyoctadecenoic acid from LA (9.Strassburg K. Huijbrechts A.M. Kortekaas K.A. Lindeman J.H. Pedersen T.L. Dane A. Berger R. Brenkman A. Hankemeier T. van Duynhoven J. et al.Quantitative profiling of oxylipins through comprehensive LC-MS/MS analysis: application in cardiac surgery.Anal. Bioanal. Chem. 2012; 404: 1413-1426Crossref PubMed Scopus (182) Google Scholar, 11.Wong A. Sagar D.R. Ortori C.A. Kendall D.A. Chapman V. Barrett D.A. Simultaneous tissue profiling of eicosanoid and endocannabinoid lipid families in a rat model of osteoarthritis.J. Lipid Res. 2014; 55: 1902-1913Abstract Full Text Full Text PDF PubMed Scopus (38) Google Scholar). The role of the levels of these additional synovial fluid (SF) omega-6 FAs in OA and OA progression has not been examined before. We hypothesized that levels of omega-6 hydroxy or epoxy metabolites (oxylipins) will be increased in SF from OA knees compared with nonOA control knees in healthy volunteers and in OA knees compared with unaffected knees of individuals with unilateral knee OA. We further hypothesized that levels of these metabolites may increase in knees that progress to more severe radiographic OA. To test this, we quantified levels of 22 n-6 PUFAs, including LNA AA, and 20 n-6 PUFA oxylipins, in SF. The objectives of the study were, first, to assess whether levels of omega-6 lipids are different between OA and controls and then, to investigate whether these lipids are involved in radiographic progression. A total of 102 individuals (44 nonOA controls and 58 with knee OA) were recruited from existing databases of previous OA studies at the University of Nottingham. Approval for recruitment was obtained from the research ethics committees of Nottingham City Hospital and North Nottinghamshire. All participants provided written informed consent. Bilateral knee radiographs (a single anteroposterior semi-flexed weight-bearing view using a Rosen template to control knee flexion and foot external rotation and 30° flexion skyline patellofemoral views) of index knee or hip OA cases were obtained at two time points and scored for features of OA by a single observer using the Kellgren and Lawrence (K/L) radiographic grade for the tibiofemoral and patella femoral compartments of each knee (12.Kellgren J.H. Lawrence J.S. Radiological assessment of osteo-arthrosis.Ann. Rheum. Dis. 1957; 16: 494-502Crossref PubMed Scopus (8443) Google Scholar). Individuals also donated a blood sample (from which plasma was extracted) and an SF sample of 0.5 ml or more from one or both knees. These were stored at −80°C for further analysis. All individuals with OA had both radiographic signs of OA (K/L grade ≥2) and pain lasting 15 or more days in the past month as per American College of Rheumatology diagnostic guidelines (13.Recommendations for the medical management of osteoarthritis of the hip and knee: 2000 update. American College of Rheumatology Subcommittee on Osteoarthritis Guidelines.Arthritis Rheum. 2000; 43: 1905-1915Crossref PubMed Scopus (1982) Google Scholar). SF samples were collected from 102 individuals (44 healthy volunteers and 58 affected knee OA participants) as previously described (14.Pascual E. Doherty M. Aspiration of normal or asymptomatic pathological joints for diagnosis and research: indications, technique and success rate.Ann. Rheum. Dis. 2009; 68: 3-7Crossref PubMed Scopus (43) Google Scholar). Briefly, SF samples were microcentrifuged and underwent rapid freezing after the sample was taken. Samples were not treated before storage. The SF sample was then analyzed without further treatment (single aliquot). Individuals from the same study also donated a blood sample from which plasma was extracted and stored for further analysis. Lipidomic analyses were carried out to determine plasma concentration levels of AA, linoleic acid, and the four hydroxyeicosatetraenoic acids. In addition, circulating levels of total omega-3 and omega-6 in the plasma samples were measured using NMR metabolomic profiling by Nightingale Health, Finland (https://nightingalehealth.com), from fasting plasma samples using 500 MHz and 600 MhH proton NMR spectroscopy as previously described (15.Soininen P. Kangas A.J. Wurtz P. Suna T. Ala-Korpela M. Quantitative serum nuclear magnetic resonance metabolomics in cardiovascular epidemiology and genetics.Circ Cardiovasc Genet. 2015; 8: 192-206Crossref PubMed Scopus (396) Google Scholar). Participants in the baseline assessment were invited mean 3.25 years later (on average) to have a second radiographic and clinical assessment. Eighty-seven participants agreed to take part and had bilateral knee X-rays (identical protocol to that used at baseline) graded by the same observer as at baseline, blind of baseline film status. For the present study, we defined radiographic progression as a change of one or more in K/L grade for tibiofemoral OA. Individuals with a K/L grade of 4 at baseline were excluded from this analysis. Individuals without OA changes at baseline but with a higher radiographic score at follow-up (e.g., from K/L grade 1 to 2, and from K/L grade 0 to 1) were included and defined to have progression of OA. The accumulation of excess SF in or around the knee joint is common among people with knee OA (16.Maricar N. Callaghan M.J. Parkes M.J. Felson D.T. O'Neill T.W. Clinical assessment of effusion in knee osteoarthritis-a systematic review.Semin. Arthritis Rheum. 2016; 45: 556-563Crossref PubMed Scopus (24) Google Scholar). In knee OA patients, clinical signs of effusion are significantly associated with inflammatory serum biomarkers (17.Deveza L.A. Kraus V.B. Collins J.E. Guermazi A. Roemer F.W. Nevitt M.C. Hunter D.J. Is synovitis detected on non-contrast-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging associated with serum biomarkers and clinical signs of effusion? Data from the Osteoarthritis Initiative.Scand. J. Rheumatol. 2018; 47: 235-242Crossref PubMed Scopus (13) Google Scholar). Therefore, we used the clinical assessment effusion performed at baseline as an indicator of inflammation of the joint to adjust for our analyses on structural progression. Individuals were asked about current prescription and nonprescription medication and were classified as taking nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) if they reported taking any of the following: arthrotec, celebrex, diclofenac, ibuprofen, meloxicam, naproxen, or piroxicam. None of the participants reported taking other prescription NSAIDs such as indomethacin, nabumetone, etodolac, and tenoxicam. Because some of the omega-6 compounds might generate from nonenzymatic pathways, we also extracted information from the questionnaires on use of multivitamins and anti-oxidant vitamins, and in secondary analyses, adjusted for use of these vitamins, including this binary variable as a covariate in the regression models. The LC-MS/MS method used for eicosanoid analysis in human serum samples, based on the method previously developed (18.Zhang J.H. Pearson T. Matharoo-Ball B. Ortori C.A. Warren A.Y. Khan R. Barrett D.A. Quantitative profiling of epoxyeicosatrienoic, hydroxyeicosatetraenoic, and dihydroxyeicosatetraenoic acids in human intrauterine tissues using liquid chromatography/electrospray ionization tandem mass spectrometry.Anal. Biochem. 2007; 365: 40-51Crossref PubMed Scopus (51) Google Scholar) (11.Wong A. Sagar D.R. Ortori C.A. Kendall D.A. Chapman V. Barrett D.A. Simultaneous tissue profiling of eicosanoid and endocannabinoid lipid families in a rat model of osteoarthritis.J. Lipid Res. 2014; 55: 1902-1913Abstract Full Text Full Text PDF PubMed Scopus (38) Google Scholar), was performed using fully extracted calibration standards for each of the analytes. Measured concentrations of the 22 omega-6 lipids listed in Table 1 were detectable in each sample and are corrected for sample volume where appropriate.TABLE 1Descriptive characteristics of study participants and of the knees from which synovial fluid was extracted, including radiographic grade and follow-up timeControlKnee OANumber of individuals4458F%45.9%60.3%age (SD)67.947.5869.288.65BMI (SD)28.345.3829.906.74NSAID use16.3%36.1%Antioxidant vitamins use14.2%18.1%Plasma total n-6 (mmol/l)2.550.312.570.45plasma total n-3 (mmol/l)0.340.050.330.06plasma total PUFA (mmol/l)2.890.342.900.50plasma AA (mmol/l)0.300.120.310.13plasma LNA (mmol/l)1.590.631.640.85Unaffected kneesUnaffected kneesAffected kneesNumber of knees481067K/L at baseline (0/1/2/3/4)0.95/0.05/0/0/00.5/0.5/0/0/00/0/0.34/0.38/0.28K/L at follow-up (0/1/2/3/4)0.78/0.12/0.07/0.02/00.5/0.3/0.2/0/00/0/0.18/0.46/0.36Signs of clinical effusion12.5%40%57%meanSDmeanSDmeanSDFollow up time (years)2.770.783.771.43.521.35-HETE (pmol/ml)0.4270.6360.2580.1100.3450.2958-HETE (pmol/ml)0.4651.2380.1880.1120.3180.57311-HETE (pmol/ml)0.3480.6020.1980.1070.2410.29112-HETE (pmol/ml)7.11228.2330.2220.1825.21128.79015-HETE (pmol/ml)0.1060.2720.0410.0260.0570.09716-HETE (pmol/ml)0.2730.2010.3740.1440.3650.14319-HETE (pmol/ml)3.86415.9280.9701.0342.3669.11920-HETE (pmol/ml)0.8190.9430.7250.6040.9490.7798,9-EET (pmol/ml)0.5611.3210.2100.1540.3160.51711,12-EET (pmol/ml)0.2920.6040.1700.0820.2370.34114,15-EET (pmol/ml)0.6501.0150.6060.3170.7000.7155,6-DHET (pmol/ml)0.1360.1740.0840.0740.1340.2078,9-DHET (pmol/ml)0.2990.2000.3390.1950.3680.22211,12-DHET (pmol/ml)1.1950.9431.6160.7571.7350.90314,15-DHET (pmol/ml)1.7391.0992.0320.8202.5841.0879-HODE (nmol/ml)15.52336.5852.4211.3375.98817.10113-HODE (nmol/ml)17.98536.4614.8892.0458.12013.4179-OxoODE (nmol/ml)12.96237.3002.5503.2493.5696.875LNA (nmol/ml)130.764242.91841.04527.69969.99876.160AA (nmol/ml)19.05248.6789.6066.14812.12510.973LTB4 (pmol/ml)0.3251.2046.48215.3540.7621.795PGD2 (pmol/ml)0.0160.0370.0350.0490.0540.106The mean concentration and SDs of the 22 lipids measured for each group is also shown. The distribution of radiographic K/L grade is shown as the proportion with grades 0, 1, 2, 3, and 4 at the tibiofemoral compartment. LTB4, leukotrienes B4. Open table in a new tab The mean concentration and SDs of the 22 lipids measured for each group is also shown. The distribution of radiographic K/L grade is shown as the proportion with grades 0, 1, 2, 3, and 4 at the tibiofemoral compartment. LTB4, leukotrienes B4. The HPLC system used was a Shimadzu series 10AD VP LC system (Shimadzu, Columbia, MD). The HPLC column used was ACE C18 (150 × 2.1 mm ID 3 µm particle size) with a guard column (Security Guard Cartridges ACE 3 C18 for ID 150 × 2.1 mm column). Mobile phase A was 0.02% formic acid in methanol:acetonitrile (1:4, v/v); mobile phase B was 0.02% formic acid in 100% water. The starting flow rate was 200 µl/min. Strata-X polymeric SPE column (200 mg/6 ml) was purchased from Phenomenex, Macclesfield, UK. The evaporator used was a Jouan centrifugal evaporator (Saint-Herblain, France). The MS system used was an Applied Biosystem MDS SCIEX 4000 Q-Trap hybrid triple-quadrupole-linear ion trap mass spectrometer (Applied Biosystem, Foster City, CA) equipped with an ESI interface. Standards for all compounds were purchased from Cayman Chemicals (Ann Arbor, MI). One batch of blank human plasma (for the OA case-control) or serum (for the TwinsUK study) acted as an analytical quality control used to confirm the day-to-day accuracy/precision of the method during the analysis of each batch of sample analysis. Samples were stored at −80°C before analysis. Internal standards (100 µl of 2-AG-d8 (10 µM) and 15 µl of AEA-d8 (28 µM), 10 µl of PGF2a-EA-d4 (2.49 µM), 10 µl of AA-d8 (1 µM), 10 µl of PGD2-d4 (1 µM), and 10 µl of 15-HETE-d8 (7.6 µM) were added to each sample or blank sample (0.4 ml water) along with 2 µl of formic acid (98% v/v) and 5 µl of 0.5% w/v of an antioxidant butylhydroxytoluene (BHT) solution in ethanol. Samples were homogenized in micro centrifuge tubes with the addition of 900 µl ethanol, followed by a slow vortex stage (10 min), and centrifuged (13,000 g, 10 min, 4°C). The 100 µl supernatants were transferred to micro centrifuge tubes and diluted with an equal amount of 100% isopropanol prior to chemical analysis. Pooled quality controlled samples were prepared by combining 20 µl from each extract of individual SF samples. Samples were homogenized in micro centrifuge tubes with the addition of 900 µl ethanol, followed by a slow vortex stage (10 min) and centrifuged (13000 g, 10 min, 4°C). The supernatants were transferred to glass tubes and diluted by the addition of 3 ml water. The diluted supernatants were loaded to the Strata-X polymeric SPE column (200 mg/6 ml) that had been preconditioned with 100% ethanol (2 ml) and 25% ethanol (4 ml). The SPE cartridge was then washed with distilled water (10 ml) and 25% ethanol (5 ml) and was allowed to run it dry. Then the eicosanoids were eluted from the column with ethyl acetate containing 0.0002% BHT (5 ml) and were dried in a centrifugal evaporator. The samples were reconstituted in 50% ethanol (100 µl) and transferred to an auto sampler vial prior to LC-MS/MS analysis. The injection volume was 20 µl. Quantification was performed using fully extracted calibration standards for each of the analytes. Quantification was performed using Analyst 1.4.1 (SCIEX LP, Ontario Canada; sciex.com/products/software/analyst-software). Identification of each compound in serum samples was confirmed by LC retention times of each standard and precursor and product ion m/z ratios. The peak area of each analyte was compared with a known amount of standard to determine the amount of target compound present. Concentrations of all omega-6 lipids were log-transformed for analysis in order to achieve a normal distribution necessary for parametric methods. The association between bioactive lipids and OA was performed using logistic regressions using OA status as the outcome and adjusting for age, sex, BMI, and NSAID use on a sample of 48 knee OA participants versus 44 nonOA controls as listed in Table 1. Adjustment for multiple testing was carried out using a Bonferroni correction. For individuals with SF extracted from more than one knee, the average of both knees was used if both were affected or both were unaffected. The differences in 10 pairs of matched knees with unilateral knee OA was carried out using a paired t-test. Association with radiographic progression was carried out by logistic regression adjusted for age, sex, BMI, follow-up time, and OA case-control status at baseline. The progression outcome was defined as a change of one or more in tibiofemoral K/L grade and was analyzed adjusting for age, BMI, sex, time to follow-up, and status at baseline (OA or not). Data from 102 knees were included in this analysis. Statistical analyses were performed using R version 3.0.1 (www.cran.org) The TwinsUK registry contains twin volunteers recruited through national media campaigns and from other twin registers (19.Moayyeri A. Hammond C.J. Valdes A.M. Spector T.D. Cohort Profile: TwinsUK and healthy ageing twin study.Int. J. Epidemiol. 2013; 42: 76-85Crossref PubMed Scopus (175) Google Scholar). The study was approved by the St Thomas' Hospital research ethics committee, and all participants provided written informed consent. Stored serum samples from 250 samples from individuals from this cohort with genome-wide genotyping were transferred to the School of Pharmacy in Nottingham. Four omega-6 oxylipins (5,6 DHET, 8,9 DHET, 11,12-DHET, and 14,15-DHET) were measured as for the OA samples and levels were correlated to genetic variants in the EPHX2 gene. To account for family structure in the TwinsUK cohort, we utilized the GenABEL software package (http://www.genabel.org/) (20.Aulchenko Y.S. Ripke S. Isaacs A. van Duijn C.M. GenABEL: an R library for genome-wide association analysis.Bioinformatics. 2007; 23: 1294-1296Crossref PubMed Scopus (1352) Google Scholar), which is designed for genetic association analysis of family-based data by incorporating a pairwise kinship matrix calculated using genotyping data in the polygenic model to correct relatedness and hidden population stratification. The linear regression implemented in the software was used to test the association between a given SNP and the four oxylipins. In order to increase statistical power (by reducing the number of tests), we used 20 SNPs that tag 97% of genetic variation with MAF ≥ 5% in this gene with r2 > 0.70. The genetic association analysis for the EPXH2 gene was performed using inverse normal transformations for each of the four oxylipins under investigation. As a result of the transformation, each of the four oxylipins tested had a normal distribution (mean of 0 and standard deviation of 1) across TwinsUK. The descriptive characteristics of study participants, radiographic grade, and concentration of the 22 omega-6 lipids investigated are shown in Table 1. NSAID users were more likely to have OA in our total case-control sample (73% in cases, 56% in controls) although not significantly so (P < 0.13) and had a significantly higher BMI than nonNSAID users [32.1 (SD = 8.4) kg/m2 vs. 28.7 (SD = 7.0) kg/m2 vs. P < 0.049]. Adjusting for age, sex, and BMI, two of the SF oxylipins,16-HETE and 20-HETE, had significantly lower concentrations in NSAID users than nonNSAID users; therefore, all analyses were adjusted for use of NSAIDs. We first determined the association between plasma levels of total omega-3, total omega-6, AA, and linoleic acid with OA and found no association (Table 1). We then assessed whether there were differences in SF levels of omega-6 lipids and OA status. The coefficients from the logistic regression and the corresponding 95% CI are shown in Fig. 1. In our discovery set of 48 OA vs. 44 controls, out of the 22 lipids measured, three oxylipins (prostaglandin D2, 11,12-DHET, and 14,15-DHET) were significantly different between these two groups after adjustment for covariates and multiple testing (Bonferroni threshold of P < 0.0023 adjusting for 22 tests). These results remained similar when we further adjusted for use of anti-oxidant vitamins (supplemental Table S1). Individuals who had SF for one affected and one unaffected knee were analyzed separately and used to validate our observation for the involvement of these three oxylipins in OA. The affected knees had significantly higher concentrations of both 11,12-DHET and 14,15-DHET compared with the unaffected knees of the same individuals (Fig. 2A). However, there was no difference in the levels of PGD2 between the affected and unaffected knees; therefore, we did not investigate this compound any further. The same was seen regarding the association between 16-HETE with OA; that is, we saw no difference between affected and unaffected knees from knee OA patients Both of the replicated lipids are DHETs. DHETs are metabolites of EETs, which in turn are synthesized from AA by cytochrome P-450 epoxygenases. (Fig. 3). The SF levels of two other compounds in the same class, 5,6-DHET and 8,9-DHET, also tested, were not associated with OA (Fig. 1). We then tested whether circulating levels of the four DHETs were associated with OA, or whether circulating levels of total omega-6, omega-3, or AA were associated with OA. We found that, with the exception of 8,9-DHET, none of the lipid levels are associated with OA status after adjustment for age, sex, BMI, and use of NSAIDs (Fig. 2B). Results remained the same after adjustment for use of antioxidant vitamins (supplemental Table S2). Given the availability of radiographs taken 3.25 years later for most of these individuals, we investigated whether SF levels of these lipids were also correlated with radiographic progression. Higher concentrations of all three, 8,9-DHET, 11,12-DHET, and 14,15-DHET, were nominally associated with increased risk of tibiofemoral OA progression (Fig. 2C). However, levels of AA, PGD2, and 5,6-DHET were not associated with radiographic progression. Because the inflammatory state of the knee might be a confounding factor in this analysis, we took into consideration the presence of knee effusion in a secondary analysis. The results are included in supplemental Table S3 and the values are similar to those obtained without adjustment. DHETs are epoxides of EETs normally generated by soluble epoxide hydrolase (sEH) (21.Imig J.D. Epoxides and soluble epoxide hydrolase in cardiovascular physiology.Physiol. Rev. 2012; 92: 101-130Crossref PubMed Scopus (269) Google Scholar) but can also be epoxidized by COX-1 and COX-2 (Fig. 3). It has been reported in the literature that sEH has the highest affinity for 14,15-EET (22.Chen Y. Falck J.R. Tuniki V.R. Campbell W.B. 20–125Iodo-14,15-epoxyeicosa-5(Z)-enoic acid: a high-affinity radioligand used to characterize the epoxyeicosatrienoic acid antagonist binding site.J. Pharmacol. Exp. Ther. 2009; 331: 1137-1145Crossref PubMed Scopus (24) Google Scholar), whereas when EETs are epoxidized by COX-1 and COX-2, the affinities are 8,9-EET > 5,6-EET > 11,12-EET, and 14,15-EET is inactive (23.Rand A.A. Barnych B. Morisseau C. Cajka T. Lee K.S.S. Panigrahy D. Hammock B.D. Cyclooxygenase-derived proangiogenic metabolites of epoxyeicosatrienoic acids.Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA. 2017; 114: 4370-4375Crossref PubMed Scopus (43) Google Scholar). These facts suggest that the three DHET compounds identified by us to be associated with OA are products of the sEH enzyme, but that the DHET not associated is not derived from sEH. To test this hypothesis, we used genetic data from a separate cohort of healthy individuals, for whom genome-wide genotyping data was available. Polymorphisms in the EPHX2 gene, which encodes the sEH enzyme, have been previously implicated in the activity of sEH (24.Nelson J.W. Young J.M. Borkar R.N. Woltjer R.L. Quinn J.F. Silbert L.C. Grafe M.R. Alkayed N.J. Role of soluble epoxide hydrolase in age-related vascular cognitive decline.Prostaglandins Other Lipid Mediat. 2014; 113–115: 30-37Crossref PubMed Scopus (47) Google Scholar, 25.Morisseau C. Wecksler A.T. Deng C. Dong H. Yang J. Lee K.S. Kodani S.D. Hammock B.D. Effect of soluble epoxide hydrolase polymorphism on substrate and inhibitor selectivity and dimer formation.J. Lipid Res. 2014; 55: 1131-1138Abstract Full Text Full Text PDF PubMed Scopus (31) Google Scholar), measured by the accumulation of 14,15-DHET. Therefore, we tested for association between serum levels of the four DHET compounds and polymorphisms in the EPHX2 gene. We found that, whereas variants in the EPHX2 gene are indeed significantly associated with 8,9-DHET, 11,12-DHET, and 14,15-DHET (Fig. 4B–D), there is no evidence for association with levels of 5,6-DHET (Fig. 4A), suggesting that the sEH enzyme plays a larger role in the generation of the DHET compounds identified to be associated with OA and OA progression than in the one not associated. In this study, we investigated in depth the relationship between omega-6 lipids and knee OA and found that compounds generated by sEH are associated both with prevalent knee OA and structural OA progression. On the other hand, we did not find a consistent increase of circulating total omega-6 lipids in OA-affected individuals compared with controls, suggesting that omega-6 compound associations with radiographic damage are not simply reflecting systemic inflammation among individuals with OA. We report three lipids whose concentrations are significantly increased in OA compared with controls in SF. Only two of these were replicated when we looked at affected vs. unaffected knees of 10 individuals; specifically 11,12-DHET and 14,15-DHET. Levels of 11,12-DHET and 14,15-DHET, along with levels of 8,9-DHET, were also increased in knees showing radiographic OA progression compared with knees without radiographic progression, after adjusting for use of NSAIDs. In addition, plasma levels of 8,9 DHET were nominally associated with OA. The three compounds identified are known to be metabolized from EETs by the sEH enzyme (21.Imig J.D. Epoxides and soluble epoxide hydrolase in cardiovascular physiology.Physiol. Rev. 2012; 92: 101-130Crossref PubMed Scopus (269) Google Scholar), which is a known anti-inflammatory target. Our genetic data suggest that it is the products of sEH in SF that are significantly associated with knee OA prevalence and progression, whereas DHET, which is known to be predominantly generated by COXs, is not associated with OA. Although originally DHETs were considered to be inactive degradation products, there are reports that some of them have biological activity (26.VanRollins M. Kaduce T.L. Fang X. Knapp H.R. Spector A.A. Arachidonic acid diols produced by cytochrome P-450 monooxygenases are incorporated into phospholipids of vascular endothelial cells.J. Biol. Chem. 1996; 271: 14001-14009Abstract Full Text Full Text PDF PubMed Scopus (75) Google Scholar). For example, 14,15-DHET levels correlate with high sensitivity C-reactive protein levels and are significantly higher in people with coronary heart disease (27.Yang T. Peng R. Guo Y. Shen L. Zhao S. Xu D. The role of 14,15-dihydroxyeicosatrienoic acid levels in inflammation and its relationship to lipoproteins.Lipids Health Dis. 2013; 12: 151Crossref PubMed Scopus (29) Google Scholar). Another possibility is that SF levels of 8,9-DHET, 11,12-DHET, and 14,15-DHET may be reflective of activity of the pro-inflammatory sEH enzyme in the joint. If this is confirmed by future studies, this would have important therapeutic implications. Several small molecules have already been developed (21.Imig J.D. Epoxides and soluble epoxide hydrolase in cardiovascular physiology.Physiol. Rev. 2012; 92: 101-130Crossref PubMed Scopus (269) Google Scholar) against this enzyme and it may, therefore, be a pharmacological target to reduce OA onset and progression. Previous studies on knee OA have suggested that the presence of synovitis seen by arthroscopy, MRI, and ultrasound may predict an increased risk of disease progression (2.Ayral X. Pickering E.H. Woodworth T.G. Mackillop N. Dougados M. Synovitis: a potential predictive factor of structural progression of medial tibiofemoral knee osteoarthritis–results of a 1 year longitudinal arthroscopic study in 422 patients.Osteoarthritis Cartilage. 2005; 13: 361-367Abstract Full Text Full Text PDF PubMed Scopus (436) Google Scholar, 28.Wang X. Blizzard L. Halliday A. Han W. Jin X. Cicuttini F. Jones G. Ding C. Association between MRI-detected knee joint regional effusion-synovitis and structural changes in older adults: a cohort study.Ann. Rheum. Dis. 2016; 75: 519-525Crossref PubMed Scopus (53) Google Scholar, 29.Roemer F.W. Guermazi A. Felson D.T. Niu J. Nevitt M.C. Crema M.D. Lynch J.A. Lewis C.E. Torner J. Zhang Y. Presence of MRI-detected joint effusion and synovitis increases the risk of cartilage loss in knees without osteoarthritis at 30-month follow-up: the MOST study.Ann. Rheum. Dis. 2011; 70: 1804-1809Crossref PubMed Scopus (243) Google Scholar). A role for synovial inflammation in OA progression has also previously been shown for hand OA (30.Mathiessen A. Slatkowsky-Christensen B. Kvien T.K. Hammer H.B. Haugen I.K. Ultrasound-detected inflammation predicts radiographic progression in hand osteoarthritis after 5 years.Ann. Rheum. Dis. 2016; 75: 825-830Crossref PubMed Scopus (60) Google Scholar, 31.Kortekaas M.C. Kwok W.Y. Reijnierse M. Kloppenburg M. Inflammatory ultrasound features show independent associations with progression of structural damage after over 2 years of follow-up in patients with hand osteoarthritis.Ann. Rheum. Dis. 2015; 74: 1720-1724Crossref PubMed Scopus (56) Google Scholar). The evidence from such studies points to inflammatory activity in the synovium playing a role in cartilage loss in OA joints. It has been hypothesized that the main molecular mediators responsible for this phenomenon might be cytokines and PGs (4.Mathiessen A. Conaghan P.G. Synovitis in osteoarthritis: current understanding with therapeutic implications.Arthritis Res. Ther. 2017; 19: 18Crossref PubMed Scopus (449) Google Scholar), but our data suggest that sEH may be implicated in this inflammatory OA process. In our study, we find that SF levels of 11,12-DHET and 14,15-DHET are significantly associated with progression even after adjustment for knee effusion at baseline. On the other hand, at least in the case of omega-6 lipids, we did not find evidence of lipoxygenase metabolites being implicated in risk of radiographic OA. We note several study limitations. Although we have been able to replicate the associations between OA, 11,12-DHET, and 14,15-DHET using a subset of unilateral OA individuals, we have not validated our findings in independent populations. Our OA population is derived from secondary care, so generalizability of findings may be limited. Also, we used plain radiographs and focused on the tibiofemoral compartments, whereas other imaging methods such as MRI would have been more sensitive to change in OA features. Nonetheless, our study explores for the first time the specific omega-6 oxylipins that are involved in OA and OA progression and generates a useful hypothesis to test regarding the role of sEH in OA pathogenesis. Further research is required to find out whether blocking the expression of the sEH gene associates with a reduction in OA progression. TwinsUK receives funding from the Wellcome Trust, the NIHR Clinical Research Facility at Guy's & St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust and NIHR Biomedical Research Centre based at Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust and King's College London. arachidonic acid cyclooxygenase dihydroxyeicosatrienoic acid epoxyeicosatrienoic acid Kellgren-Lawrence γ linoleic acid lipoxygenase nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug osteoarthritis prostaglandin soluble epoxide hydrolase synovial fluid
Osteoarthritis (OA) is a complex, multifactorial, and slowly progressive disease where there is currently no effective medical treatment. Research in understanding the mechanisms of OA has been advanced by preclinical studies in rodent models of OA. Recent evidence highlights the role of different classes of lipids in OA pathogenesis. Therefore, the main aim of this thesis was to apply both targeted and untargeted (global) lipidomics mass spectrometry based an alytical methods, in conjunction with univariate and multivariate statistical analysis, in various tissues from three established rodent models of OA; meniscal transection (MNX), monosodium iodoacetate (MIA), and destabilization of the medial meniscus (DMM). The overall goal was to identify statistically differentiated lipids between controls versus OA rodents that may reflect changes in the pathophysiology of OA and associated pain. In addition, a global lipidomics workflow was developed by me, following the latest trends used within the wider metabolomics community, ensuring robustness and reproducibility in the identification of putative metabolite/lipid biomarkers for diseases.
Experiments in this thesis using a targeted oxylipin liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) method showed that statistical significant changes in the levels of certain oxylipins were observed. More specifically, 11,12-DHET (mean concentration: 0.26 pmol/g in control, 0.54 pmol/g in MNX; p<0.01), 14,15-DHET (0.46 pmol/g in control, 0.75 pmol/g in MNX; p<0.05) and 8-HETE (5.46 pmol/g in control, 7.40 pmol/g in MNX; p<0.05) were statistically increased in the MNX compared to control (sham) rats in ventral spinal cord in the MNX rat model of OA. These findings are supported by literature since these three lipids exhibit pro-inflammatory properties and thus are expected to increase in the OA group where inflammation is the main feature of OA. Regarding the MIA rat model levels of other oxylipins in synovial fluid were differentially expressed in the MIA compared to saline (control) rats. Arachidonic acid (AA), (272.3 pmol/g in control, 435.3 pmol/g in MIA; p<0.05) was increased in the MIA-treated compared to saline-treated rats, while 9-HODE (4.42 pmol/g in control; 1.21 pmol/g in MIA; p<0.05) was statistically decreased in the MIA compared to saline rats. Since AA has been reported to be released from membrane phospholipids in OA, the observation that AA is statistically increased in synovial fluid in MIA- compared to saline-treated rats bears strong significance. In addition, maps of oxylipins metabolism were generated to visualize the pathways underlying the changes of lipid concentrations in plasma between control and OA rats for both MNX and MIA rat models. Therefore, applying a targeted oxylipin LC-MS/MS method in different tissues of MNX and MIA rat models of OA is a successful approach and informative about changes in pathophysiology of OA, underlying significant alterations in oxylipins concentrations. Although the global lipidomics approach was able to measure different classes of lipids that might account for differences in plasma between MNX/MIA and sham/saline-treated rats, this approach exhibited weak MVA (multivariate analysis) models.
In contrast to MNX and MIA rat models, the global LC-MS lipidomics profile in plasma from a DMM mouse model of OA exhibited excellent MVA models with good prediction scores. Twenty-six statistically significant lipids were identified, using the lipidomics workflow that I have developed, and when four of these lipids were used to build Receiver Operative Curves (ROC) the model produced high prediction (84%) power in separating sham from DMM mice. The identity of these four lipids was classified as being fatty acids (FAs), sterols, sphingolipids, and diacylglycerols (DAG). In addition, MS/MS experiments were performed to confirm the identity of significant lipids. Thus, it was shown herein that applying a global lipidomics LC-MS approach in plasma from the mouse DMM model, using only a small number of mice (15 in total), can be informative about significant changes in the “lipidome” in OA and can be used as a robust means of predicting OA in mice based on their global lipidomics profile.
Lastly, correlation statistical analysis was applied between levels of lipids in the various tissues, pain behaviour, and histopathology parameters in the three rodent models of OA. Although many oxylipins/lipids levels were found to be statistically correlated with the aforementioned parameters, the most striking finding is that 9-HODE and AA were both found to be positively correlated with Weight Bearing (WB), a parameter of pain behaviour, in plasma and synovial fluid in the MIA rat model of OA. Since plasma reflects systemic inflammation and synovial fluid reflects local (inflammation) 9-HODE (p<0.01 in plasma; p<0.05 in synovial fluid) and AA (p<0.01 in plasma and synovial fluid) are oxylipins that potentially depict systemic and local changes in WB differences, and subsequently in OA related pain. This finding is supported by literature since both AA and 9-HODE are both agonists of a pain receptor (i.e. transient receptor potential vanilloid 1, TRPV-1). Thus, it was proved in this thesis that correlation analysis can be used as an additional and complementary statistical tool in an effort to determine the role of lipids in OA pathogenesis in rodent models of OA.
In conclusion, applying both targeted oxylipin LC-MS/MS and global lipidomics LC-MS analytical methods capable of measuring either oxylipins or the whole “lipidome” in vivo, have provided novel findings to support the involvement of these lipids in OA and associated pain.
: Lipid dysmetabolism seems to contribute to the development and progression of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). Our aim was to compare serum lipidomic profile between patients with NAFLD having received monotherapy with vitamin E (400 IU/d) and those having received combination therapy with vitamin E (400 IU/d) and low-dose spironolactone (25 mg/d) for 52 weeks.
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