A molecular description of the mechanisms by which aging is produced is still very limited. Here, we have determined the plasma metabolite profile by using high-throughput metabolome profiling technologies of 150 healthy humans ranging from 30 to 100 years of age. Using a nontargeted approach, we detected 2,678 metabolite species in plasma, and the multivariate analyses separated perfectly two groups indicating a specific signature for each gender. In addition, there is a set of gender-shared metabolites, which change significantly during aging with a similar tendency. Among the identified molecules, we found vitamin D2-related compound, phosphoserine (40:5), monoacylglyceride (22:1), diacylglyceride (33:2), and resolvin D6, all of them decreasing with the aging process. Finally, we found three molecules that directly correlate with age and seven that inversely correlate with age, independently of gender. Among the identified molecules (6 of 10 according to exact mass and retention time), we found a proteolytic product (l-γ-glutamyl-l-leucine), which increased with age. On the contrary, a hydroxyl fatty acid (25-hydroxy-hexacosanoic), a polyunsaturated fatty acid (eicosapentaenoic acid), two phospholipids (phosphocholine [42:9]and phosphoserine [42:3]) and a prostaglandin (15-keto-prostaglandin F2α) decreased with aging. These results suggest that lipid species and their metabolism are closely linked to the aging process.
Keywords: Life expectancy; Lipid molecular species; Liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry; Metabolomics; Sexual dimorphism.
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