Metabolomics study of urine with Benzene, Toluene and Xylene combined exposure based on ultra performance liquid chromatography-quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometry

Abstract

Objective: To study the effects of combined occupational exposure of benzene, toluene, and xylene on human metabolism at an overall level, and to screen biomarkers related to the combined occupational exposure of benzene, toluene, and xylene, and to explore the mechanism of early health effects preliminarily caused by combined occupational exposure of benzene, toluene, and xylene by identification of biomarkers and retrieval of metabolic pathways. Methods: A shoe-making company was selected as the research site. Twenty subjects for the exposed group and the control group were selected separately, and urine of the subjects was collected. The metabolic profiles of the samples were collected by liquid chromatography time-of-flight mass spectrometry, and professional metabolomics and multivariate statistical analysis software were used to establish PCA and OPLS-DA analysis models to screen potential biomarkers and identify biomarkers. Finally, based on the dynamic changes and trends of potential biomarkers between groups, the mechanism of body damage caused by benzene, toluene, and xylene was initially explored. Results: Urine metabolomics analysis showed that the metabolic profile of urine samples of the benzene, toluene, and xylene combined exposure group was different from that of the control group. 27 potential biomarkers that were closely related to the combined exposure of benzene, toluene, and xylene were screened and identified. These potential biomarkers were enriched in 16 metabolic pathways, of which 3 pathways were significantly enriched (P<0.05) , respectively, lysine metabolism, amino sugar metabolism, and nucleotide sugar metabolism. Conclusion: The metabonomics method can well reflect the changes in the metabolome of urine samples in the occupational population after the combined exposure of benzene, toluene, and xylene, which will help us better evaluate the risk of combined exposure of benzene, toluene, and xylene and prevent and control their health risks.