A Biochemical Approach to Understand the Pathogenesis of Advanced Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension: Metabolomic Profiles of Arginine, Sphingosine-1-Phosphate, and Heme of Human Lung

PLoS One. 2015 Aug 28;10(8):e0134958. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0134958. eCollection 2015.

Abstract

Pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) is a vascular disease characterized by persistent precapillary pulmonary hypertension (PH), leading to progressive right heart failure and premature death. The pathological mechanisms underlying this condition remain elusive. Analysis of global metabolomics from lung tissue of patients with PAH (n = 8) and control lung tissue (n = 8) leads to a better understanding of disease progression. Using a combination of high-throughput liquid-and-gas-chromatography-based mass spectrometry, we showed unbiased metabolomic profiles of disrupted arginine pathways with increased Nitric oxide (NO) and decreased arginine. Our results also showed specific metabolic pathways and genetic profiles with increased Sphingosine-1-phosphate (S1P) metabolites as well as increased Heme metabolites with altered oxidative pathways in the advanced stage of the human PAH lung. The results suggest that PAH has specific metabolic pathways contributing to the vascular remodeling in severe pulmonary hypertension. Profiling metabolomic alterations of the PAH lung has provided a new understanding of the pathogenic mechanisms of PAH, which benefits therapeutic targeting to specific metabolic pathways involved in the progression of PAH.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Adult
  • Arginine / analysis*
  • Female
  • Heme / analysis*
  • Humans
  • Hypertension, Pulmonary / metabolism*
  • Hypertension, Pulmonary / pathology
  • Lung / metabolism*
  • Lysophospholipids / analysis*
  • Male
  • Metabolic Networks and Pathways
  • Metabolomics / methods*
  • Middle Aged
  • Nitric Oxide / metabolism
  • Sphingosine / analogs & derivatives*
  • Sphingosine / analysis
  • Vascular Remodeling

Substances

  • Lysophospholipids
  • sphingosine 1-phosphate
  • Nitric Oxide
  • Heme
  • Arginine
  • Sphingosine

Grants and funding

This work received funding from the TGH Hospital Foundation made possible through donations from Bayer Canada. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.