Electrophoretic Determination of Trimethylamine (TMA) in Biological Samples as a Novel Potential Biomarker of Cardiovascular Diseases Methodological Approach.

Marek Konop,Adrian Drapała,Anna Laskowska,Wojciech Karwowski,Emilia Waraksa,Mateusz Rybka,Ewa Kłodzińska,Tomasz Grzywacz,Artur Nowiński

doi:10.3390/ijerph182312318

Abstract

In competitive athletes, the differential diagnosis between nonpathological changes in cardiac morphology associated with training (commonly referred to as “athlete’s heart”) and certain cardiac diseases with the potential for sudden death is an important and not uncommon clinical problem. The use of noninvasive, fast, and cheap analytical techniques can help in making diagnostic differentiation and planning subsequent clinical strategies. Recent studies have demonstrated the role of gut microbiota and their metabolites in the onset and the development of cardiovascular diseases. Trimethylamine (TMA), a gut bacteria metabolite consisting of carnitine and choline, has recently emerged as a potentially toxic molecule to the circulatory system. The present work aims to develop a simple and cost-effective capillary electrophoresis-based method for the determination of TMA in biological samples. Analytical characteristics of the proposed method were evaluated through the study of its linearity (R2 > 0.9950) and the limit of detection and quantification (LOD = 1.2 µg/mL; LOQ = 3.6 µg/mL). The method shows great potential in high-throughput screening applications for TMA analysis in biological samples as a novel potential biomarker of cardiovascular diseases. The proposed electrophoretic method for the determination of TMA in biological samples from patients with cardiac disease is now in progress.

Highlights

IntroductionAthletes are seen to be healthy, physically fit, and able to tolerate extremes of physical endurance
Rat and human red blood cells (RBC) were susceptible to the exposure to tested compounds (TMA/TMAO)
The method was successfully applied to the analysis of rat urine and plasma as well as biological samples derived from athletes

Summary

Introduction

Athletes are seen to be healthy, physically fit, and able to tolerate extremes of physical endurance. It seems improbable that such athletes may have underlying life-threatening, cardiovascular abnormalities. Regular physical activity promulgates cardiovascular fitness and lowers the risk of cardiac disease. With intense physical exertion and the harboring of an underlying disease, athletes may suffer sudden cardiac death. The echocardiographic examinations in athletes showed left ventricular hypertrophy of the heart muscle. Knowledge of those changes may help identify cardiovascular abnormalities that can cause sudden death from the heart known as an “athlete’s heart” [1]

Methods

Results

Discussion

Conclusion