Untargeted metabolomics analysis of the plasma metabolic signature of moderate-to-severe acne

Abstract

Background: Acne vulgaris is a chronic inflammatory disease of pilosebaceous units and sebaceous glands. This study aimed to find out metabolites and metabolite pathways abnormal in moderate-to-severe acne vulgaris patients.

Methods: The plasma metabolites LC-MS/MS analysis was conducted on 30 moderate-to-severe acne patients and 32 healthy controls. Multivariate data analyses were applied to identify the distinguishing metabolites.

Results: Totally, 63 significant differential metabolites and 40 metabolic pathways were significantly changed. The top 3 metabolites on the basis of their VIP scores obtained from the PLS-DA were 2-Oxoadipic acid, Myo-inositol and Citrate. In addition, four sphingolipid metabolites include sphinganine, sphingosine, O-Phosphoethanolamine, and sphingomyelin (d18:1/18:0) were identified. The most closely related metabolic pathways included ATP-binding cassette (ABC) transporters and sphingolipid signaling pathway in moderate-to-severe acne patients.

Conclusions: The observed difference in metabolic profiles between acne patients and healthy controls provides a new insight into the link between plasma metabolic changes and acne vulgaris.

Keywords: ATP-binding cassette (ABC) transporters; Metabolomics; Moderate-to-severe acne; Sphingolipid signaling pathway.