Metabolomic Profiling of Plasma Bile Acids in Resectable Gastric Cancer

Area of Science:

• Metabolomics
• Gastroenterology
• Oncology

Background:

• Gastric cancer (GC) often presents with late-stage diagnosis and lacks effective non-invasive biomarkers.
• Investigating plasma bile acid (BA) profiles offers insights into GC metabolism and potential diagnostic markers.

Purpose of the Study:

• To analyze plasma BA profiles in GC patients compared to healthy controls.
• To identify potential diagnostic and prognostic biomarkers for gastric cancer.

Main Methods:

• A case-control study involving 62 GC patients (stages I-III) and 70 controls.
• Plasma concentrations of 48 metabolites were quantified using liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS).
• Statistical analyses included univariate tests, principal component analysis, and linear discriminant analysis (LDA).

Main Results:

• GC patients exhibited a lower CA/CDCA ratio and altered secondary/conjugated bile acids, indicating gut-liver-microbiome axis involvement.
• The diagnostic performance of BA profiling was moderate (AUC = 0.731).
• Bile acid levels correlated negatively with tumor stage/size and inflammatory markers (CRP, mGPS), and positively with nutritional markers (albumin, hemoglobin).

Conclusions:

• Distinct circulating BA profiles in GC reflect metabolic remodeling, systemic inflammation, nutritional status, and disease burden.
• Altered bile acids and reduced CA/CDCA ratio support the gut-liver-microbiome axis's role in GC.
• Integrating BA profiling with other markers may enhance non-invasive patient stratification and prognostic evaluation.