[Metabolomics analysis identifies serum glycerophospholipid expression: a comparison between men and women with...

Objective: To determine whether asthma has a different metabolic glycerophospholipid profile in serum between women and men with asthma. Methods: Fifty-one outpatients with asthma (17 men, 34 women) were enrolled from Peking University Third Hospital from Jan 2015 to Dec 2015. Clinical data such as gender, age, body mass index, pulmonary function were recorded. Glycerophospholipid profile were measured in serum using liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS)-based metabolomics analysis. Projections to latent structures-discriminate analysis (PLS-DA) was used to compare the differences of glycerophospholipid level between men and women. Receiver Operating Characteristic (ROC) Curve was established from men and women. Results: Significantly different glycerophospholipid level were confirmed quantitatively between women and men. Levels of phosphatidylethanolamine (PE), phosphatidylcholine acetal phospholipid (PCP), lysophosphatidyl ethanolamine (LPE), alkyl phosphatidylethanolamine [PE(O)] were significantly higher in women relative to men [PE36: 2, PCP32: 1, LPE18: 0, and PE(O40: 7) was 0.050 (0.037, 0.079) vs 0.043 (0.000, 0.071), 0.057 (0.035, 0.727) vs 0.034 (0.000, 0.057), 0.233 (0.129, 0.390) vs 0.126 (0.075, 0.212), 0.007(0.000, 0.041) vs 0.000 (0.000, 0.000), respectively, all P<0.05). Levels of lysophosphatidylcholine (LPC), lysophosphatidylserine (LPS), and lysophosphatidylphosphatidylcholine [LPC(O)] were significantly lower in women compared to men [Levels of LPS22: 6, LPS20: 4, and LPS18: 1 were 0.000(0.000, 0.003) vs 0.009(0.000, 0.012), 0.015(0.010, 0.026) vs 0.047(0.022, 0.081), 0.008(0.003, 0.179) vs 0.020(0.008, 0.040), respectively, all P<0.05]. Area Under ROC Curve (AUC) of LPS (LPS20: 4) was 0.814. Conclusions: Glycerophospholipid levels in serum are significantly different between women and men asthmatic patients. LPS may contribute to gender based differences in asthmatics.