“Metabonomics is closely related to the biochemical functions of cells or organisms, so metabonomics is the most important method to understand disease symptoms and biological functions,” researchers of a study published in the Journal of Orthopaedic Surgery and Research wrote.
Investigating the pathogenesis of hyperuricemia (HUA) to acute gouty arthritis (AGA), researchers used chromatography/liquid chromatography–mass spectrometry (GC/LC–MS) to investigate the changes of serum metabolites in individuals from 3 different cohorts: healthy control group , HUA, and AGA, as well as to “find the pathophysiological mechanism and biological markers.”
“This research method considers multiple metabolite markers as a whole and provides a potential method to explore the progression from normal to HUA and then to AGA, so as to predict the risk of HUA and AGA by using metabolic markers and make early and accurate diagnosis,” the authors of the study remarked.
Collecting 50 samples from the AGA, HUA, and control groups, the serum metabolites were analyzed by GC/LC–MS. The research team identified 23 different serum metabolic markers related to AGA and HUA. These markers were largely related to the metabolism of uric acid and subsequent inflammatory responses caused by HUA and AGA. Of these markers, 3 (kynurenic acid, thymine, and phosphatidylinositol) were found to be completely different from previous gout studies, and 9 metabolites had differing trends from conventional inflammation.
“In general, these potential biomarkers found in our study have important biological significance for the diagnosis of HUA and AGA,” the researchers wrote.
To conclude, they stated: “With the continuous innovation of metabonomics technology and the improvement of people’s requirements for quality of life, scholars pay more attention to the early diagnosis of various diseases. As a new screening technique, metabonomics has been used in the diagnosis of diseases and clinical application.”