Year: 2018
Type: article
Study design: Observational Study
Abstract: Necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC) remains a major challenge in neonatology. Little is known about NEC pathophysiology apart from the presence of pre-event gut dysbiosis. Here, we applied broad range metabolomics to stools obtained 1-5 days before NEC developed from 9 cases (9 samples) and 19 (32 samples) controls matched for gestational age at birth and birth weight. The 764 identified metabolites identified six pathways that differ between cases and controls. We pursued sphingolipid metabolism because cases had decreased ceramides and increased sphingomyelins compared to controls, and because of the relevance of sphingolipids to human inflammatory disorders. Targeted analysis of samples from 23 cases and 46 controls confirmed the initial broad range observations. While metabolites provided only 73% accuracy of classification by machine learning, hierarchical clustering defined a sphingolipid associated grouping that contained 60% of the cases but only 13% of the controls, possibly identifying a pathophysiologically distinct subset of NEC. The clustering did not associate with any of the analyzed clinical and sample variables. We conclude that there are significant changes in sphingolipid metabolism components in pre-NEC stools compared to controls, but our data urge circumspection before using sphingolipids as broadly applicable predictive biomarkers.
Source: Scientific Reports
Institution: Washington University in St. Louis
Language: English
Topic: Infant Nutrition and Health
Subfield: Nutrition and Dietetics
Field: Nursing
Domain: Health Sciences
Open Access status: gold
Estimated APC paid: $2,690
Funders: National Science Foundation, Children's Discovery Institute, Georgia Clinical and Translational Science Alliance, Schweizerischer Nationalfonds zur Förderung der Wissenschaftlichen Forschung, National Institutes of Health, National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, National Cancer Institute, National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases, National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences, Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development
Awards: Influence of the Enteric Microbiome on the Genesis of Bronchopulmonary Dysplasia, G1485266116, G4114322228, Washington University Institute of Clinical and Translational Sciences, PHYLOGENOMIC, TRANSCRIPTOMIC, VIROMIC, AND IMMUNOPROTEOMIC DETERMINANTS OF NECROTIZING ENTEROCOLITIS, The Role of Host Lipids in the Onset of Necrotizing Enterocolitis, Washington University Nutrition Obesity Research Center, Pediatric Gastroenterology Research Training Program, Washington University Institute of Clinical and Translational Sciences, Diabetes Research Center, Cancer Center Support Grant, Host-environment interactions in the pathophysiology of digestive disease
OpenAlex ID: W2884579601