Impact of Phenylketonuria on the Serum Metabolome and Plasma Lipidome: A Study in Early-Treated Patients

Jorine C.van der Weerd, Annemiek M.J.van Wegberg, Theo S. Boer, Udo F.H. Engelke, Karlien L.M. Coene, Ron A. Wevers, Stephan J.L. Bakker, Pim de Blaauw, Joost Groen, Francjan J.van Spronsen, M. Rebecca Heiner-Fokkema*

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticleAcademicpeer-review

Abstract

Background: Data suggest that metabolites, other than blood phenylalanine (Phe), better and independently predict clinical outcomes in patients with phenylketonuria (PKU). Methods: To find new biomarkers, we compared the results of untargeted lipidomics and metabolomics in treated adult PKU patients to those of matched controls. Samples (lipidomics in EDTA-plasma (22 PKU and 22 controls) and metabolomics in serum (35 PKU and 20 controls)) were analyzed using ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography and high-resolution mass spectrometry. Data were subjected to multivariate (PCA, OPLS-DA) and univariate (Mann–Whitney U test, p < 0.05) analyses. Results: Levels of 33 (of 20,443) lipid features and 56 (of 5885) metabolite features differed statistically between PKU patients and controls. For lipidomics, findings include higher glycerolipids, glycerophospholipids, and sphingolipids species. Significantly lower values were found for sterols and glycerophospholipids species. Seven features had unknown identities. Total triglyceride content was higher. Higher Phe and Phe catabolites, tryptophan derivatives, pantothenic acid, and dipeptides were observed for metabolomics. Ornithine levels were lower. Twenty-six metabolite features were not annotated. Conclusions: This study provides insight into the metabolic phenotype of PKU patients. Additional studies are required to establish whether the observed changes result from PKU itself, diet, and/or an unknown reason.

Original languageEnglish
Article number479
Number of pages25
JournalMetabolites
Volume14
Issue number9
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Sept-2024

Keywords

  • lipidomics
  • mass-spectrometry
  • metabolomics
  • phenylalanine
  • phenylketonuria
  • untargeted

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