Plasma-free amino acid profiling of cervical cancer and cervical intraepithelial neoplasia patients and its application for early detection

Abstract

In this study, plasma-free amino acid profiles were used to investigate pre-cancerous cervical intraepithelial neoplasia (CIN) and cervical squamous cell carcinoma (CSCC) metabolic signatures in plasma. Additionally, the diagnostic potential of these profiles was assessed, as well as their ability to provide novel insight into CSCC metabolism and systemic effects. Plasma samples from CIN patients (n = 26), CSCC patients (n = 22), and a control healthy group (n = 35) were analyzed by high-performance liquid chromatography, and their spectral profiles were subjected to the t test for statistical significance. Potential metabolic biomarkers were identified using database comparisons that examine the significance of metabolites. Compared with healthy controls, patients with CIN and CSCC demonstrated lower levels of plasma amino acids; plasma levels of arginine and threonine were increased in CIN patients but were decreased in cervical cancer patients. Additionally, the levels of a larger group of amino acids (aspartate, glutamate, asparagine, serine, glycine, histidine, taurine, tyrosine, valine, methionine, lysine, isoleucine, leucine, and phenylalanine) were gradually reduced from CIN to invasive cancer. These findings suggest that plasma-free amino acid profiling has great potential for improving cancer screening and diagnosis and for understanding disease pathogenesis. Plasma-free amino acid profiles may have the potential be used to determine cancer diagnoses in the early stage from a single blood sample and may enhance our understanding of its mechanisms.