Serum Metabolomic and Lipoprotein Profiling of Pancreatic Ductal Adenocarcinoma Patients of African Ancestry

Date
2021
Authors
Elebo, Nnenna
Fru, Pascaline N.
Candy, Geoffrey
Nweke, Ekene
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
MDPI
Abstract
Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) is a lethal cancer with a characteristic dysregulated metabolism. Abnormal clinicopathological features linked to defective metabolic and inflammatory response pathways can induce PDAC development and progression. In this study, we investigated the metabolites and lipoproteins profiles of PDAC patients of African ancestry. Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) spectroscopy was conducted on serum obtained from consenting individuals (34 PDAC, 6 Chronic Pancreatitis, and 6 healthy participants). Seventy-five signals were quantified from each NMR spectrum. The Liposcale test was used for lipoprotein characterization. Spearman’s correlation and Kapan Meier tests were conducted for correlation and survival analyses, respectively. In our patient cohort, the results demonstrated that levels of metabolites involved in the glycolytic pathway increased with the tumour stage. Raised ethanol and 3-hydroxybutyrate were independently correlated with a shorter patient survival time, irrespective of tumour stage. Furthermore, increased levels of bilirubin resulted in an abnormal lipoprotein profile in PDAC patients. Additionally, we observed that the levels of a panel of metabolites (such as glucose and lactate) and lipoproteins correlated with those of inflammatory markers. Taken together, the metabolic phenotype can help distinguish PDAC severity and be used to predict patient survival and inform treatment intervention.
Description
This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https:// creativecommons.org/licenses/by/ 4.0/)
Keywords
Pancreas, Adenocarcinoma, Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy, Lipoproteins, pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma
Citation
.1. Elebo N., Omoshoro-Jones J., Fru P. N., et al. Serum Metabolomic and Lipoprotein Profiling of Pancreatic Ductal Adenocarcinoma Patients of African Ancestry. Metabolites. 2021;11(10):663. DOI: 10.3390/metabo11100663