Novel biomarkers of hyperlipidemic acute pancreatitis: metabolomic identification

Background: Recognition of hypertriglyceridemia is critical for the diagnosis of hyperlipidemic pancreatitis (HLP) and the selection and evaluation of therapy.

Objective: Investigate metabolic profiling technologies for identifying novel biomarkers and pathways activated in HLP.

Methods: Blood and urine samples were obtained from 24 patients and 39 healthy people. A gas chromatography and mass spectrometry was employed to study the metabolic profile in HLP and healthy groups. Functional pathway trend analysis using multivariate statistical analysis was performed.

Results: HLP patients could be precisely distinguished from the healthy controls. In the patient, levels of aconitate, citrate, hippurate, p-hydroxyphenylacetate and p-hydroxyphenylpopionic acid were decreased, while levels of tryptophan, tyrosine, tyramine,16-hexadecanoic acid, and 18-octadecanoic acid were increased. The change of energy metabolism-related mechanisms, fatty acid metabolism, gut microbiota metabolism, and metabolism of tyrosine could be used to distinguish HLP patients.

Conclusions: Novel biomarkers could be identified by application of metabolomics. Metabolic profiling was useful for studies of pathogenesis of HLP.