Exploration of Blood Lipoprotein and Lipid Fraction Profiles in Healthy Subjects through Integrated Univariate, Multivariate, and Network Analysis Reveals Association of Lipase Activity and Cholesterol Esterification with Sex and Age

Yasmijn Balder; Alessia Vignoli; Leonardo Tenori; Claudio Luchinat; Edoardo Saccenti

doi:10.3390/metabo11050326

Exploration of Blood Lipoprotein and Lipid Fraction Profiles in Healthy Subjects through Integrated Univariate, Multivariate, and Network Analysis Reveals Association of Lipase Activity and Cholesterol Esterification with Sex and Age

Metabolites. 2021 May 18;11(5):326. doi: 10.3390/metabo11050326.

Authors

Yasmijn Balder¹, Alessia Vignoli^{2

3}, Leonardo Tenori^{2

3}, Claudio Luchinat^{2

3}, Edoardo Saccenti¹

Affiliations

¹ Laboratory of Systems and Synthetic Biology, Wageningen University & Research, Stippeneng 4, 6708 WE Wageningen, The Netherlands.
² Magnetic Resonance Center (CERM) and Department of Chemistry "Ugo Schiff", University of Florence, Via Luigi Sacconi 6, 50019 Sesto Fiorentino, Italy.
³ Consorzio Interuniversitario Risonanze Magnetiche MetalloProteine (CIRMMP), Via Luigi Sacconi 6, 50019 Sesto Fiorentino, Italy.

Abstract

In this study, we investigated blood lipoprotein and lipid fraction profiles, quantified using nuclear magnetic resonance, in a cohort of 844 healthy blood donors, integrating standard univariate and multivariate analysis with predictive modeling and network analysis. We observed a strong association of lipoprotein and lipid main fraction profiles with sex and age. Our results suggest an age-dependent remodulation of lipase lipoprotein activity in men and a change in the mechanisms controlling the ratio between esterified and non-esterified cholesterol in both men and women.

Keywords: analysis of biological networks; lipid metabolism; lipidomics; metabolomics; nuclear magnetic resonance.