Severity-Dependent Profile of the Metabolome in Hypospadias

Coriness Piñeyro-Ruiz; Nataliya E Chorna; Marcos Raymond Pérez-Brayfield; Juan Carlos Jorge

doi:10.3389/fped.2020.00202

Severity-Dependent Profile of the Metabolome in Hypospadias

Front Pediatr. 2020 Apr 24:8:202. doi: 10.3389/fped.2020.00202. eCollection 2020.

Authors

Coriness Piñeyro-Ruiz¹, Nataliya E Chorna², Marcos Raymond Pérez-Brayfield³, Juan Carlos Jorge¹

Affiliations

¹ Department of Anatomy and Neurobiology, School of Medicine, University of Puerto Rico, San Juan, United States.
² Department of Biochemistry, PR-INBRE Metabolomics Research Core, University of Puerto Rico, Medical Sciences Campus, San Juan, United States.
³ Department of Surgery, Urology Section, School of Medicine, University of Puerto Rico, San Juan, United States.

Abstract

Background & Objective: Hypospadias, characterized by the displacement of the opening of the urethra at any point in the medial-ventral side of the penis, is classified upon severity as mild (Type I) and severe (Type II and Type III) hypospadias. Hypospadias' etiology is idiopathic in the majority of cases, and underlying causes seem of multifactorial origin. Studies regarding genetic variants support this notion. It is unknown whether downstream gene products fit this profile. This study evaluated the metabolome of hypospadias by using the emerging technology of metabolomics in the search for distinct cellular processes associated with hypospadias' etiology according to the severity of this congenital urogenital condition. Methods: Foreskin samples were collected during urethroplasty from boys with Type I, II, and III hypospadias or undergoing elective circumcision (N = 28) between 5 and 28 months of age. Samples were processed and submitted to gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC/MS). MetaboloAnalyst (http://www.metaboanalyst.ca/) online platform was used for bioinformatic analyses. Results: Thirty-five metabolites across experimental groups were identified by GC/MS. Principal component analysis (PCA) and partial least squares-discriminant analysis (PLS-DA) showed that the metabolome of Type II and Type III hypospadias patients differs from the metabolome of Type I hypospadias and control patients. Of those 35, 10 amino acids were found in significantly low concentrations in severe hypospadias: aspartate, glutamate, glycine, isoleucine, leucine, lysine, methionine, phenylalanine, proline, and tyrosine. A high concentration of the amino acid lysine was detected in mild hypospadias. Conclusions: The observed downregulation of specific amino acids in severe hypospadias provides alternative routes for future research aiming to identify disrupted networks and pathways while considering the severity of hypospadias.

Keywords: etiology; hypospadias; metabolites; metabolome; metabolomics; severity.

Abstract

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