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. 2020 Jan;13(1):67-77.
doi: 10.1111/cts.12679. Epub 2019 Sep 5.

Metabolomic Differentials in Women With and Without Fibromyalgia

Victoria Menzies  1 , Angela Starkweather  2 , Yingwei Yao  1 , Leroy R Thacker 2nd  3 , Timothy J Garrett  4 , Theresa Swift-Scanlan  3 , Debra Lynch Kelly  1 , Param Patel  2 , Debra E Lyon  1
Affiliations

Metabolomic Differentials in Women With and Without Fibromyalgia

Victoria Menzies et al. Clin Transl Sci. 2020 Jan.

Abstract

A nontargeted plasma metabolomic analysis was conducted to compare differentially expressed metabolites in women with and without fibromyalgia (FM) using data and samples collected from two parent studies in women with FM (n = 20) and comparative data collected from newly recruited age-matched women (n = 20). Blood plasma samples were analyzed for metabolite content using liquid chromatography mass spectrometry. Consolidation of positive and negative ion mode metabolomics data with fold change (>2 or <0.5) and variable importance of projection scores ≥1 revealed statistically significant metabolites comparing samples from women with and without FM. Metabolite profiles in patients with FM differed from the comparison group in energy, lipid and amino acid metabolites reflecting heightened oxidative stress, inflammation, and tryptophan degradation in patients with FM. Study results may contribute to further identification of unique metabolomic profiles enhancing understanding of the pathophysiology of FM and for the development of effective therapeutic options.

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Conflict of interest statement

All authors declared no competing interests for this work.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Feature reduction process in total sample (fibromyalgia n = 20 and comparison group n = 20). Ionization polarity. M/Z, mass‐to‐charge ratio; RT, retention time.
Figure 2
Figure 2
PCA plot for POS ion mode data (219 known metabolites). The data were autoscaled before PCA was performed. Pink dots: comparison group; blue triangles: fibromyalgia group. The shaded ovals are the 95% data ellipses. PCA, principal component analysis; POS, positive.
Figure 3
Figure 3
PCA plot for NEG ion mode data (174 known metabolites). The data were autoscaled before PCA was performed. Pink dots: comparison group; blue triangles: fibromyalgia group. The shaded ovals are the 95% data ellipses. NEG, negative; PCA, principal component analysis.
Figure 4
Figure 4
Statistically significant differential metabolites with fold change (FC) >2.0 or FC <0.5 in women with FM relative to comparison samples. FM, fibromyalgia; HC, comparison group; NEG, negative ion mode; POS, positive ion mode.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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