Saakshi Bangera, DY Patil School of Biotechnology and Bioinformatics
Metabolomics is the study of metabolites in a biological sample. These studies enhance our understanding of the consequences of diet on metabolomic pathways. Intra and interindividual variations differ on various levels among metabolites. The metabolomic composition of biological fluids is influenced by numerous factors such as genes, age, sex, lifestyle, and diet. The metabolomic profiles of the blood of an individual are his/her characteristic feature. The stability of the metabolites increased metabolome conservation. Familial factors including genetic and shared environment influences the stability of the NMR metabolome. It has been suggested that stable metabolites are influenced by genetic and environmental factors combined.
Plasma metabolomic profile has previously been used to understand metabolomic conservation as compared to the urine metabolome which is less researched. Low blood metabolomic profile conservation has been linked with an increase in the mortality risk of individuals. Therefore, by monitoring the conservation of an individual’s metabolomic profile, metabolomic changes can be identified.
This study attempts to categorize the stable regions of the urinary NMR metabolomic profile. By using a classic twin design, the study also aims to measure the environmental and genetic contributions to metabolomic stability over time.
Results
20% of the urinary NMR metabolomic profile was found to be stable over a 2-month timeline. Genetic and environmental influences reliably accounted for variation with time. Urinary NMR metabolomes demonstrated a high conservation index for 91% of the group. Consisting of 81 bin regions, the urinary NMR metabolome provides an efficient method to observe metabolomic conservation over time. Heritability estimates suggested that heritability and metabolomic stability over seven years were highly interconnected. The study suggests that metabolites with low heritability and high stability were conserved due to lifestyle-related factors. A collection of reproducible urinary metabolomic regions were identified in the study. These regions were found to be correlated to habitual diet quality. These regions were captured in the stable NMR metabolome, indicating the influence of habitual diet on conservation. In adult twins living apart, a shared environment may characterize long-lasting influences of their time cohabiting. Correlated metabolites among spouses who live in the same household display similarities in the metabolome.
Urinary profiles can potentially provide important information about the long-term influences of diet on metabolomic conservation. Throughout all studies, some profiles were less well conserved as compared to others. This may indicate a significant lifestyle change such as antibiotic treatment or pregnancy.
Strengths and limitations of the study
This classic twin study group allows the analysis of the genetic and environmental factors that influence variance in traits. The study population is healthy and the sample size is small. Sample numbers were considered during the interpretation of model estimates. Sample size and study design allowed controlled sample collection at multiple time checkpoints. This practice reduces the impact of preanalytical sample collection factors. The NMR technique used in the study has high analytical reproducibility.
The limitations of this study are that NMR represents only a specific portion of the metabolome. Spectral binning was performed with reduced resolution and peak shifting amongst the bins.
Conclusion
The study aims to determine the factors that contribute towards the stability in the urine NMR metabolomic profile. The study identified a stable component of the urinary NMR metabolomic profile. The study also demonstrates that both genetic and shared environmental aspects contribute to the stability of the metabolome. However, this research needs more exploration, and studying a larger study group would strengthen the findings of the study.
Also read: Association of kidney and liver biomarkers with MetS
Reference
Bermingham, K. M., Brennan, L., Segurado, R., Barron, R. E., Gibney, E. R., Ryan, M. F., Gibney, M. J., & O’Sullivan, A. M. (2021). Genetic and environmental contributions to variation in the stable urinary nmr metabolome over time: A classic twin study. Journal of Proteome Research. https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.jproteome.1c00319
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About the author
The author is currently pursuing MSc in Biotechnology from DY Patil School of Biotechnology and Bioinformatics. She believes that she doesn’t have a specific area of interest yet. She wishes to explore toxicology and food biotechnology. She’s quite passionate about Biotechnology and aims to grab every opportunity she comes across.
Previous publications
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