Rotavirus-Induced Diarrhea Changes the Proteins, Amino Acids and Fatty Acids Profiles in Fecal Samples of the Infants

Abstract

Background: Rotavirus-induced diarrhea (RD) could cause disorders in food protein and fat metabolism of infants the changes of which have not been clearly revealed; however, relevant studies are limited. Objectives: The aim was to investigate the changes of proteins, amino acids and fatty acids profiles in fecal samples of the infants caused by RD. Methods: A total of 30 fecal samples were collected from 15 RD infants and 15 healthy infants. The compositions of fecal proteins, amino acids and fatty acids profiles in all fecal samples were analyzed using sodium dodecyl sulfate polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE), automatic amino acid analyzer and gas chromatography (GC), respectively. Results: Compared to H infants, the feces in RD infants had lower contents of proteins with 50 - 55, 79 - 80, and 84 - 85 KDa, meanwhile higher contents of proteins with 67 - 69 KDa. The levels of aspartic acid, threonine, serine, glutamic acid, glycinc, alanine, valine, methionine, isoleucine, leucine, lysine, phenylalanine, histidine, arginine, and proline in the feces from RD infants were significantly lower than that of H infants (P < 0.05). The relative proportions of butyric acid, elaidic acid, linoleic acid, cis-11, 14-icotenic acid, cis-11, 14, 17- epoxyeicosatrienoic acids, cis-13, 16-docosanoic acid, and cis-7, 10, 13, 16,19 docosapentaenoic acid in feces from RD infants decreased significantly compared to those of H infants (P < 0.05). On the contrary, significant increases in the relative proportions of caprylic acid, decanoic acid, undecanoic acid, lauric acid, tridecanoic acid, myristic acid, myristoleic acid, palmitic acid, cis-10-heptadecaenoic acid, oleic acid, and γ-linoleic acid were found in the; feces of RD infants (P < .05). Conclusions: RD changed the proteins, amino acids, and fatty acids profiles in infants feces, which improved the understanding of relationship between RD and fecal metabolites profile.