Non-targeted Metabolomics Profiling of Plasma Samples From Patients With Major Depressive Disorder

Zhonghao Wu; Heming Yu; Yu Tian; Yue Wang; Yong He; Tianlan Lan; Yan Li; Mengge Bai; Xiangyu Chen; Zhi Chen; Ping Ji; Hongmei Zhang; Xin Jin; Jinlin Song; Ke Cheng; Peng Xie

doi:10.3389/fpsyt.2021.810302

Non-targeted Metabolomics Profiling of Plasma Samples From Patients With Major Depressive Disorder

Front Psychiatry. 2022 Feb 21:12:810302. doi: 10.3389/fpsyt.2021.810302. eCollection 2021.

Authors

Zhonghao Wu^{1

2}, Heming Yu^{1

3}, Yu Tian^{1

3}, Yue Wang^{1

4}, Yong He^{1

3}, Tianlan Lan^{1

2}, Yan Li^{1

3}, Mengge Bai^{1

5}, Xiangyu Chen^{1

3}, Zhi Chen^{1

3}, Ping Ji^{6

7}, Hongmei Zhang⁶, Xin Jin^{6

8}, Jinlin Song^{6

7

9}, Ke Cheng^{1

3}, Peng Xie^{1

3

7}

Affiliations

¹ NHC Key Laboratory of Diagnosis and Treatment on Brain Functional Diseases, The First Affiliated Hospital, Chongqing Medical University, Chongqing, China.
² State Key Laboratory of Ultrasound in Medicine and Engineering, College of Biomedical Engineering, Chongqing Medical University, Chongqing, China.
³ Department of Neurology, The First Affiliated Hospital, Chongqing Medical University, Chongqing, China.
⁴ Institute of Neuroscience, Basic Medical College, Chongqing Medical University, Chongqing, China.
⁵ The M.O.E. Key Laboratory of Medical Diagnostics, The College of Laboratory Medicine, Chongqing Medical University, Chongqing, China.
⁶ Chongqing Key Laboratory for Oral Diseases and Biomedical Sciences, The Affiliated Hospital, Stomatology of Chongqing Medical University, Chongqing, China.
⁷ College of Stomatology, Chongqing Medical University, Chongqing, China.
⁸ Key Laboratory of Psychoseomadsy, Stomatological Hospital, Chongqing Medical University, Chongqing, China.
⁹ Chongqing Municipal Key Laboratory of Oral Biomedical Engineering of Higher Education, Chongqing, China.

Abstract

Background: Major depressive disorder (MDD) is a neuropsychiatric disorder caused by multiple factors. Although there are clear guidelines for the diagnosis of MDD, the direct and objective diagnostic methods remain inadequate thus far.

Methods: This study aims to discover peripheral biomarkers in patients with MDD and promote the diagnosis of MDD. Plasma samples of healthy controls (HCs, n = 52) and patients with MDD (n = 38) were collected, and then, metabolism analysis was performed using ultrahigh-performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS). Heatmap analysis was performed to identify the different metabolites. Meanwhile, receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves of these differential metabolites were generated.

Results: Six differential metabolites were found by LC-MS/MS analysis. Three of these were increased, including L-aspartic acid (Asp), diethanolamine, and alanine. Three were decreased, including O-acetyl-L-carnitine (LAC), cystine, and fumarate. In addition, LAC, Asp, fumarate, and alanine showed large areas under the curve (AUCs) by ROC analysis.

Conclusion: The study explored differences in peripheral blood between depressed patients and HCs. These results indicated that differential metabolites with large AUCs may have the potential to be promising biomarkers for the diagnosis of MDD.

Keywords: LC-MS/MS; biomarkers; diagnosis; major depressive disorder; non-targeted metabolomics; plasma; receiver operating characteristic curve.