A targeted metabolomic profiling of plasma acylcarnitines in nonalcoholic fatty liver disease

Y. Chang, X.-Q. Gao, N. Shen, J. He, X. Fan, K. Chen, X.-H. Lin, H.-M. Li, F.-S. Tian, H. Li

Department of Hepatopancreatobiliary and Splenic Medicine, Characteristic Medical Center of People’s Armed Police Force, Tianjin, China. haili_tj@sina.com

---

• Pharmacology

OBJECTIVE: Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) has become a common liver disorder caused by lipid accumulation and insulin resistance (IR). Acylcarnitines have become a new biomarker of IR. However, their roles in NAFLD are still poorly studied. Thus, we performed a targeted metabolomic analysis to study the level of plasma acylcarnitines in patients with NAFLD.

MATERIALS AND METHODS: The levels of 34 plasma acylcarnitines were measured by a targeted metabolomic approach in NAFLD patients (n = 50) and in healthy control subjects (n = 50) by liquid chromatography–tandem mass spectrometry. Detailed demographic and clinical characteristics of all subjects were also analyzed.

RESULTS: The clinical presentation of IR was identified in the NAFLD group but not in the healthy control group. Significant differences were found in the levels of several short-, medium- and long-chain acylcarnitines. A high degree of correlation (r>0.7) was found between even-numbered-carbon long-chain acylcarnitines in NAFLD patients. The area under the receiver operator characteristic of long-chain acylcarnitines, especially C20 (AUC=0.952), C16:1 (AUC=0.949) and C14:1OH (AUC=0.944) acylcarnitines, was greater in NAFLD patients than in healthy control subjects.

CONCLUSIONS: The accumulation and disorders of acylcarnitines are associated with NAFLD. A positive correlation between even-numbered-carbon long-chain acylcarnitines was found, and these even-numbered-carbon long-chain acylcarnitines. could be used as potential novel screening markers for nonalcoholic fatty liver disease.

Free PDF Download