Mass spectrometry and nuclear magnetic resonance metabolomics in biomarker discovery
Published: 12 January 2018
Researchers in the cardiovascular workstrand have developed a new mass spectrometry method for carboxymethyl lysine quantification and identified phenyalanine as a novel predictor of heart failure hospitalisation by NMR spectroscopy
Fundamental to ICAM's portfolio is prediction and early diagnosis of cardiovascular disease through molecular phenotyping and novel biomarker identification/validation.
Carboxymethyl Lysine Quantification by Mass Spectrometry
An isotope dilution mass spectrometry method for the absolute quantification of plasma carboxymethyl lysine (CML), normalized to lysine, has been developed by Dr Naomi Rankin in collaboration with Dr Karl Burgess and Stefan Weidt at the Glasgow Polyomics Facility. A high-throughput method for sample preparation (including reduction and hydrolysis) was also developed as part of this project. This method has been applied to approximately 1700 samples from the British regional heart study (BRHS) and statistical analysis of the results is being carried out by our collaborators at the University College of London. This method was presented as a poster at the Glasgow Pathology NODE research symposium and the Scottish Metabolomics network symposium where it was runner up for the "Royal College of Chemistry: Analytical Division Poster Prize".
Phenylalanine as a Novel Predictor of Heart Failure Hospitalization
Prof. Christian Delles, Dr Naomi Rankin, Dr Paul Welsh and Prof. Naveed Sattar, in collaboration with researchers on the PROSPER and FINRISK projects and the Robertson Center for Biostatistics, have published an open-access paper in the European Journal of Heart Failure (DOI:10.1002/ejhf.107). Samples from PROSPER were sent to Brianshake (now Nightingale Health) for NMR metabolomics and lipoprotein profiling. Statistical analysis identified Phenylalanine and acetate as potential predictors of heart failure hospitalization in this elderly population. Compared to a model with established risk factors, including the well characterized marker of heart failure NT-proBNP, the prediction did not significantly improve. In order to replicate the study, our collaborators looked for biomarkers of heart failure hospitalization in the FINRISK cohort. They also found phenylalanine to be a predictor of heart failure hospitalization.
First published: 12 January 2018