Smoking is a major risk factor for several diseases including chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). To better understand the systemic effects of cigarette smoke exposure and mild to moderate COPD-and to support future biomarker development-we profiled the serum lipidomes of healthy smokers, smokers with mild to moderate COPD (GOLD stages 1 and 2), former smokers, and never-smokers (n = 40 per group) (ClinicalTrials.gov registration: NCT01780298). Serum lipidome profiling was conducted with untargeted and targeted mass spectrometry-based lipidomics. Guided by weighted lipid co-expression network analysis, we identified three main trends comparing smokers, especially those with COPD, with non-smokers: a general increase in glycero(phospho)lipids, including triglycerols; changes in fatty acid desaturation (decrease in ω-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids, and an increase in monounsaturated fatty acids); and an imbalance in eicosanoids (increase in 11,12- and 14,15-DHETs (dihydroxyeicosatrienoic acids), and a decrease in 9- and 13-HODEs (hydroxyoctadecadienoic acids)). The lipidome profiles supported classification of study subjects as smokers or non-smokers, but were not sufficient to distinguish between smokers with and without COPD. Overall, our study yielded further insights into the complex interplay between smoke exposure, lung disease, and systemic alterations in serum lipid profiles.
Keywords: biomarker; chronic obstructive pulmonary disease; clinical study; lipidomics; tobacco smoke.