A novel lipidomic strategy reveals plasma phospholipid signatures associated with respiratory disease severity in cystic fibrosis patients

PLoS One. 2009 Nov 6;4(11):e7735. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0007735.

Abstract

The aim of this study was to search for lipid signatures in blood plasma from cystic fibrosis (CF) patients using a novel MALDI-TOF-ClinProTools strategy, initially developed for protein analysis, and thin layer chromatography coupled to MALDI-TOF (TLC-MALDI). Samples from 33 CF patients and 18 healthy children were subjected to organic extraction and column chromatography separation of lipid classes. Extracts were analyzed by MALDI-TOF, ion signatures were compared by the ClinProTools software and by parallel statistical analyses. Relevant peaks were identified by LC-MSn. The ensemble of analyses provided 11 and 4 peaks differentially displayed in CF vs healthy and in mild vs severe patients respectively. Ten ions were significantly decreased in all patients, corresponding to 4 lysophosphatidylcholine (18:0, 18:2, 20:3, and 20:5) and 6 phosphatidylcholine (36:5, O-38:0, 38:4, 38:5, 38:6, and P-40:1) species. One sphingolipid, SM(d18:0), was significantly increased in all patients. Four PC forms (36:3, 36:5, 38:5, and 38:6) were consistently downregulated in severe vs mild patients. These observations were confirmed by TLC-MALDI. These results suggest that plasma phospholipid signatures may be able to discriminate mild and severe forms of CF, and show for the first time MALDI-TOF-ClinProTools as a suitable methodology for the search of lipid markers in CF.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Adolescent
  • Adult
  • Child
  • Child, Preschool
  • Chromatography, Thin Layer / methods
  • Cystic Fibrosis / blood*
  • Cystic Fibrosis / diagnosis*
  • Female
  • Humans
  • Infant
  • Lipids / chemistry*
  • Lysophosphatidylcholines / chemistry
  • Male
  • Mass Spectrometry / methods
  • Phospholipids / blood*
  • Respiration Disorders / blood*
  • Respiration Disorders / diagnosis*
  • Spectrometry, Mass, Matrix-Assisted Laser Desorption-Ionization

Substances

  • Lipids
  • Lysophosphatidylcholines
  • Phospholipids