Application of metabolomics: Focus on the quantification of organic acids in healthy adults

Tsoukalas,Dimitris; Alegakis,Athanasios; Fragkiadaki,Persefoni; Papakonstantinou,Evangelos; Nikitovic,Dragana; Karataraki,Aikaterini; Nosyrev,Alexander E.; Papadakis,Emmanouel  G.; Spandidos,Demetrios  A.; Drakoulis,Nikolaos; Tsatsakis,Aristides  M.

doi:10.3892/ijmm.2017.2983

Application of metabolomics: Focus on the quantification of organic acids in healthy adults

Authors:
- Dimitris Tsoukalas
- Athanasios Alegakis
- Persefoni Fragkiadaki
- Evangelos Papakonstantinou
- Dragana Nikitovic
- Aikaterini Karataraki
- Alexander E. Nosyrev
- Emmanouel G. Papadakis
- Demetrios A. Spandidos
- Nikolaos Drakoulis
- Aristides M. Tsatsakis
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Affiliations: Laboratory of Forensic Sciences and Toxicology, Medical School, University of Crete, Heraklion 71003, Greece, Metabolomic Medicine Clinic, Athens 10674, Greece, Laboratory of Anatomy‑Histology‑Embryology, School of Medicine, University of Crete, Heraklion 71003, Greece, I.M. Sechenov First Moscow State Medical University, Moscow 119048, Russia, Onassis Cardiac Surgery Centre, Athens 17674, Greece, Laboratory of Clinical Virology, School of Medicine, University of Crete, Heraklion 71003, Greece, Research Group of Clinical Pharmacology and Pharmacogenomics, Faculty of Pharmacy, School of Health Sciences, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Athens 15772, Greece
Published online on: May 10, 2017 https://doi.org/10.3892/ijmm.2017.2983
Pages: 112-120
Copyright: © Tsoukalas et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of Creative Commons Attribution License.

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Abstract

Metabolomics, a ‘budding’ discipline, may accurately reflect a specific phenotype which is sensitive to genetic and epigenetic interactions. This rapidly evolving field in science has been proposed as a tool for the evaluation of the effects of epigenetic factors, such as nutrition, environment, drug and lifestyle on phenotype. Urine, being sterile, is easy to obtain and as it contains metabolized or non‑metabolized products, is a favored study material in the field of metabolomics. Urine organic acids (OAs) reflect the activity of main metabolic pathways and have been used to assess health status, nutritional status, vitamin deficiencies and response to xenobiotics. To date, a limited number of studies have been performed which actually define reference OA values in a healthy population and as reference range for epigenetic influences, and not as a reference to congenital metabolic diseases. The aim of the present study was thus the determination of reference values (RVs) for urine OA in a healthy adult population. Targeted metabolomics analysis of 22 OAs in the urine of 122 healthy adults by gas chromatography‑mass spectrometry, was conducted. Percentile distributions of the OA concentrations in urine, as a base for determining the RVs in the respective population sample, were used. No significant differences were detected between female and male individuals. These findings can facilitate the more sensitive determination of OAs in pathological conditions. Therefore, the findings of this study may contribute or add to the information already available on urine metabolite databases, and may thus promote the use of targeted metabolomics for the evaluation of OAs in a clinical setting and for pathophysiological evaluation. However, further studies with well‑defined patients groups exhibiting specific symptoms or diseases are warranted in order to discern between normal and pathological values.

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