Metabolomic Profiling of Red Blood Cells to Identify Molecular Markers of Methotrexate Response in the Collagen Induced Arthritis Mouse Model

Although methotrexate (MTX) is the first line disease-modifying therapy used in the treatment of autoimmune arthritis, it is limited by its unpredictable and variable response profile and lack of therapeutic biomarkers to predict or monitor therapeutic response. The purpose of this work is to evalua...

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Main Authors: Yezan M. Salamoun, Kishore Polireddy, Yu Kyoung Cho, Ryan Sol Funk
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2022-12-01
Series:Future Pharmacology
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.mdpi.com/2673-9879/2/4/38
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author Yezan M. Salamoun
Kishore Polireddy
Yu Kyoung Cho
Ryan Sol Funk
author_facet Yezan M. Salamoun
Kishore Polireddy
Yu Kyoung Cho
Ryan Sol Funk
author_sort Yezan M. Salamoun
collection DOAJ
description Although methotrexate (MTX) is the first line disease-modifying therapy used in the treatment of autoimmune arthritis, it is limited by its unpredictable and variable response profile and lack of therapeutic biomarkers to predict or monitor therapeutic response. The purpose of this work is to evaluate the utility of red blood cell (RBC) metabolite profiles to screen for molecular biomarkers associated with MTX response. <b>Methods</b>: Utilizing the collagen-induced arthritis mouse model, DBA/1J mice were treated with subcutaneous MTX (20 mg/kg/week) and RBC samples were collected and analyzed by semi-targeted global metabolomic profiling and analyzed by univariate analysis. <b>Results</b>: MTX treatment normalized the following RBC metabolite levels that were found to be altered by disease induction: N-methylisoleucine, nudifloramide, phenylacetylglycine, 1-methyl-L-histidine, PC 42:1, PE 36:4e, PC 42:3, PE 36:4e (16:0e/20:4), and SM d34:0. Changes in the RBC metabolome weakly but significantly correlated with changes in the plasma metabolome following MTX treatment (ρ = 0.24, <i>p</i> = 1.1 × 10<sup>−13</sup>). The RBC metabolome resulted in the detection of nine significant discriminatory biomarkers, whereas the plasma metabolome resulted in two. Overall, the RBC metabolome yielded more highly sensitive and specific biomarkers of MTX response compared to the plasma metabolome. N-methylisoleucine was found to be highly discriminatory in both plasma and RBCs. <b>Conclusions</b>: Our results suggest that RBCs represent a promising biological matrix for metabolomics and future studies should consider the RBC metabolome in their biomarker discovery strategy.
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spelling doaj.art-c00b1c984ae94afc8b260018eb578b912023-11-24T14:59:09ZengMDPI AGFuture Pharmacology2673-98792022-12-012462564110.3390/futurepharmacol2040038Metabolomic Profiling of Red Blood Cells to Identify Molecular Markers of Methotrexate Response in the Collagen Induced Arthritis Mouse ModelYezan M. Salamoun0Kishore Polireddy1Yu Kyoung Cho2Ryan Sol Funk3Department of Pharmacy Practice, University of Kansas Medical Center, Kansas City, KS 66160, USADepartment of Pharmacy Practice, University of Kansas Medical Center, Kansas City, KS 66160, USADepartment of Pharmacy Practice, University of Kansas Medical Center, Kansas City, KS 66160, USADepartment of Pharmacy Practice, University of Kansas Medical Center, Kansas City, KS 66160, USAAlthough methotrexate (MTX) is the first line disease-modifying therapy used in the treatment of autoimmune arthritis, it is limited by its unpredictable and variable response profile and lack of therapeutic biomarkers to predict or monitor therapeutic response. The purpose of this work is to evaluate the utility of red blood cell (RBC) metabolite profiles to screen for molecular biomarkers associated with MTX response. <b>Methods</b>: Utilizing the collagen-induced arthritis mouse model, DBA/1J mice were treated with subcutaneous MTX (20 mg/kg/week) and RBC samples were collected and analyzed by semi-targeted global metabolomic profiling and analyzed by univariate analysis. <b>Results</b>: MTX treatment normalized the following RBC metabolite levels that were found to be altered by disease induction: N-methylisoleucine, nudifloramide, phenylacetylglycine, 1-methyl-L-histidine, PC 42:1, PE 36:4e, PC 42:3, PE 36:4e (16:0e/20:4), and SM d34:0. Changes in the RBC metabolome weakly but significantly correlated with changes in the plasma metabolome following MTX treatment (ρ = 0.24, <i>p</i> = 1.1 × 10<sup>−13</sup>). The RBC metabolome resulted in the detection of nine significant discriminatory biomarkers, whereas the plasma metabolome resulted in two. Overall, the RBC metabolome yielded more highly sensitive and specific biomarkers of MTX response compared to the plasma metabolome. N-methylisoleucine was found to be highly discriminatory in both plasma and RBCs. <b>Conclusions</b>: Our results suggest that RBCs represent a promising biological matrix for metabolomics and future studies should consider the RBC metabolome in their biomarker discovery strategy.https://www.mdpi.com/2673-9879/2/4/38metabolomicsrheumatoid arthritismethotrexatebiomarkerserythrocyte metabolomecollagen-induced arthritis
spellingShingle Yezan M. Salamoun
Kishore Polireddy
Yu Kyoung Cho
Ryan Sol Funk
Metabolomic Profiling of Red Blood Cells to Identify Molecular Markers of Methotrexate Response in the Collagen Induced Arthritis Mouse Model
Future Pharmacology
metabolomics
rheumatoid arthritis
methotrexate
biomarkers
erythrocyte metabolome
collagen-induced arthritis
title Metabolomic Profiling of Red Blood Cells to Identify Molecular Markers of Methotrexate Response in the Collagen Induced Arthritis Mouse Model
title_full Metabolomic Profiling of Red Blood Cells to Identify Molecular Markers of Methotrexate Response in the Collagen Induced Arthritis Mouse Model
title_fullStr Metabolomic Profiling of Red Blood Cells to Identify Molecular Markers of Methotrexate Response in the Collagen Induced Arthritis Mouse Model
title_full_unstemmed Metabolomic Profiling of Red Blood Cells to Identify Molecular Markers of Methotrexate Response in the Collagen Induced Arthritis Mouse Model
title_short Metabolomic Profiling of Red Blood Cells to Identify Molecular Markers of Methotrexate Response in the Collagen Induced Arthritis Mouse Model
title_sort metabolomic profiling of red blood cells to identify molecular markers of methotrexate response in the collagen induced arthritis mouse model
topic metabolomics
rheumatoid arthritis
methotrexate
biomarkers
erythrocyte metabolome
collagen-induced arthritis
url https://www.mdpi.com/2673-9879/2/4/38
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AT yukyoungcho metabolomicprofilingofredbloodcellstoidentifymolecularmarkersofmethotrexateresponseinthecollageninducedarthritismousemodel
AT ryansolfunk metabolomicprofilingofredbloodcellstoidentifymolecularmarkersofmethotrexateresponseinthecollageninducedarthritismousemodel