Understanding Colitis Progression and Treatment Response in Murine and Canine Models with Raman Metabolic Profiling...

Area of Science:

• Biomedical Optics
• Metabolomics
• Gastroenterology

Background:

• Ulcerative colitis (UC) is a chronic inflammatory disease with increasing global prevalence.
• Noninvasive monitoring of UC progression and treatment response is crucial.
• Metabolic alterations are linked to colitis severity, suggesting potential as biomarkers.

Purpose of the Study:

• To employ Raman spectroscopy (RS) for label-free metabolic profiling of serum and tissue in colitis models.
• To identify metabolic biomarkers for distinguishing healthy from colitic states and predicting treatment response.
• To investigate the impact of synbiotic supplementation on metabolic profiles and inflammatory pathways.

Main Methods:

• Utilized Raman spectroscopy (RS) for serum and tissue metabolome analysis in murine and canine colitis models.
• Correlated identified metabolites with proinflammatory cytokines, disease activity index, body weight, and histology scores.
• Performed proteomic analysis to validate RS findings and assess pathway alterations.

Main Results:

• Identified 16 significant metabolites in murine sera distinguishing healthy from colitic mice (AUC-ROC 0.98).
• Correlated serum and tissue metabolites with key clinical and histological parameters of colitis.
• Differentiated colitic dogs treated with synbiotics from placebo controls (AUC 0.81), with key features related to sugars and amino acids.
• Synbiotic supplementation modulated lipid and fatty acid profiles, reduced inflammation, and promoted gut healing.

Conclusions:

• Metabolic profiling using Raman spectroscopy is a sensitive, noninvasive strategy for UC diagnosis and treatment response prediction.
• Identified specific metabolic signatures associated with colitis and synbiotic intervention.
• Findings support the development of personalized medicine approaches for inflammatory bowel diseases.