Abstract
BackgroundEchinococcosis is a severe zoonotic parasitic disease which severely affects the health of the hosts. The diagnosis of echinococcosis depends mainly on imaging examination. However, the patient is often in the late stage of the disease when the symptoms appear, thus limiting the early diagnosis of echinococcosis. The treatment and prognosis of the patients are hampered because of long-term asymptomatic latency. Metabolomics is a new discipline developed in the late 1990s. It reflects a series of biological responses in pathophysiological processes by demonstrating the changes in metabolism under the influence of internal and external factors. When the organism is invaded by pathogens, the alteration in the characteristics of metabolites in cells becomes extremely sensitive. Here, we used a metabolomics approach involving liquid chromatography coupled with tandem mass spectrometry (LC–MS/MS) to determine the molecular mechanism of cystic echinococcosis (CE) and to develop an effective method for CE diagnosis.MethodsTwenty 8-week-old female BALB/c mice were divided into normal and Echinococcus granulosus infection groups. To develop the E. granulosus infection model, mice were infected with protoscoleces. Six weeks later, the abdomens of the mice showed significant bulging. An LC–MS/MS system-based metabolomics approach was used to analyse the liver and faeces to reveal the metabolic profiles of mice with echinococcosis.ResultsWe found that the metabolism of nucleotides, alkaloids, amino acids, amides, and organic acids in mice is closely interrelated with E. granulosus infection. In the liver, the metabolic pathways of tyrosine and tryptophan biosynthesis; phenylalanine, valine, leucine and isoleucine biosynthesis; and phenylalanine metabolism were notably associated with the occurrence and development of hydatid disease, and in the faeces, pantothenate and CoA biosynthesis are thought to be closely associated with the development of CE.ConclusionThe metabolomics approach used in this study provides a reference for a highly sensitive and specific diagnostic and screening method for echinococcosis.Graphical
Highlights
Echinococcosis is a severe zoonotic parasitic disease which severely affects the health of the hosts
The metabolites of the liver were found to be in moderate groupings between the infection and normal control groups under positive ion mode (POS) and negative ion mode (NEG) according to principal component analysis (PCA) (Fig. 1A, B)
The results suggest that the metabolism of nucleotides, alkaloids, amino acids, amides, and organic acids in mice is closely interrelated with E. granulosus infection
Summary
Echinococcosis is a severe zoonotic parasitic disease which severely affects the health of the hosts. The patient is often in the late stage of the disease when the symptoms appear, limiting the early diagnosis of echinococcosis. The oncospheres are transported to the liver through the portal vein and lymphatic vessels where they settle and develop into larvae (hydatid cysts), partly reaching the lungs and rarely reaching the brains, bones, or any other organ of a human or intermediate host [2, 10]. There are no significant symptoms in the early stage of CE, with more than half of cysts expressing no change in size in 10–15 years [12] Clinical symptoms such as epigastric discomfort or loss of appetite commonly appear when the cyst becomes more than 10 cm long, and gradually develop, causing damage and dysfunction in the parasitized organs (mainly the liver) [13, 14]. Determination of a positive and effective approach to discriminate patients with CE from healthy individuals is important for the early diagnosis and treatment of echinococcosis, which can significantly improve the survival rate of patients
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