Pilot study of plasma creatine riboside as a potential biomarker for cervical cancer

Takahiro Oike; Naoto Osu; Yuya Yoshimoto; Hideru Obinata; Kazuhiro Yoshikawa; Curtis C Harris; Tatsuya Ohno

doi:10.1016/j.heliyon.2023.e16684

Pilot study of plasma creatine riboside as a potential biomarker for cervical cancer

Heliyon. 2023 May 25;9(6):e16684. doi: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2023.e16684. eCollection 2023 Jun.

Authors

Takahiro Oike^{1

2}, Naoto Osu¹, Yuya Yoshimoto³, Hideru Obinata⁴, Kazuhiro Yoshikawa⁵, Curtis C Harris⁶, Tatsuya Ohno^{1

2}

Affiliations

¹ Department of Radiation Oncology, Gunma University Graduate School of Medicine, 3-39-22, Showa-machi, Maebashi, Gunma, 371-8511, Japan.
² Gunma University Heavy Ion Medical Center, 3-39-22, Showa-machi, Maebashi, Gunma, 371-8511, Japan.
³ Department of Radiation Oncology, School of Medicine, Fukushima Medical University, 1, Hikarigaoka, Fukushima, Fukushima, 960-1295, Japan.
⁴ Laboratory for Analytical Instruments, Education and Research Support Center, Gunma University Graduate School of Medicine, 3-39-22, Showa-machi, Maebashi, Gunma, 371-8511, Japan.
⁵ Division of Research Creation and Biobank, Research Creation Support Center, Aichi Medical University, 1-1, Yazako-karimata, Nagakute, Aichi, 480-1103, Japan.
⁶ Laboratory of Human Carcinogenesis, Center for Cancer Research, National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, 37 Convent Dr, Bethesda, MD, 20814, USA.

Abstract

This pilot study aimed primarily to evaluate plasma levels of a novel metabolite, creatine riboside, in patients with cervical cancer (discovery and validation cohorts, n = 11 for each) compared with non-cancer subjects (controls, n = 30). We found that the pre-treatment plasma creatine riboside level was significantly higher in the discovery cohort than in controls. The cut-off value determined from the discovery cohort distinguished 90.9% of the patients in the validation cohort from controls. Unbiased principal component analysis of plasma metabolites in high-creatine riboside samples demonstrated enrichment of pathways involved in arginine and creatine metabolism. These data indicate the potential utility of plasma creatine riboside as a biomarker of cervical cancer.

Keywords: Biomarker; Cervical cancer; Creatine riboside; Oncometabolite; Plasma.