Mngi-34. the Role of Alanine as a Potential Metabolic Marker in Detecting Atypical Meningiomas
Year: 2018
Type: conference-abstract
Abstract: Meningiomas are tumors arising from meninges, the membranes surrounding the brain and the spinal cord. Majority of meningiomas (especially the grade-1) are benign and grow slowly. However, atypical meningiomas (grade-2) exhibit increased cellular proliferation, and grow at much faster rate than benign meningiomas. Moreover, atypical meningiomas have higher probability to recur compared to benign meningiomas. The goal of this study is to identify potential metabolic markers that can be used to distinguish meningioma tumors of grade-1 and atypical grade-2. We have collected tumor tissues from fifteen meningioma patients (grade-1 = 10 and grade-2 = 5) during surgical removal of the tumor mass at the Houston Methodist Hospital. We have employed ex vivo 1H magnetic resonance spectroscopy of tumor tissue extracts to determine whether there are any metabolic differences between grade-1 and grade-2 meningiomas. We have detected the following aqueous metabolites in the tumors that we have studied: leucine, isoleucine, valine, lactate, alanine, acetate, glutamate, succinate, glutamine, aspartate, creatine. phosphocreatine, phosphocholine/glycerophosphocholine, glycine, phosphoethanolamine, myoinositol, and glucose. Quantitative analysis of these metabolites revealed for the first time that alanine and glutamine were highly elevated in grade-2 meningiomas compared to grade-1 tumors. The levels of alanine and glutamine in grade-1 are 2.93 ± 1.20 and 4.81 ± 2.37 µmol/g, while in grade-2 tumors, the levels are 4.95 ± 2.47 and 7.13 ± 4.23 µmol/g respectively. Elevated levels of alanine has been detected previously in grade -1 meningioma patients. However, there has been no study to date that compares various metabolite levels between grade-1 and grade-2 (atypical) meningiomas. Glutamine-derived glutamate is known as the key precursor in alanine biosynthesis. We examine using a larger patient cohort whether there is any correlation between the levels of alanine and glutamine in meningiomas of these two grades.
Source: Neuro-Oncology
Authors: Omkar Ijare, David Baskin, Kumar Pichumani
Institutions: Houston Methodist, Houston Methodist Research Institute
Language: English
Subfield: Epidemiology
Field: Medicine
Domain: Health Sciences
Open Access status: bronze
OpenAlex ID: W2899847962