Serum Metabonomics of Mild Acute Pancreatitis

Abstract

Background: Mild acute pancreatitis (MAP) is a common acute abdominal disease, and exhibits rising incidence in recent decades. As an important component of systemic biology, metabonomics is a new discipline developed following genomics and proteomics. In this study, the objective was to analyze the serum metabonomics of patients with MAP, aiming to screen metabolic markers with potential diagnostic values. Methods: An analysis platform with ultra performance liquid chromatography-high-resolution mass spectrometry was used to screen the difference metabolites related to MAP diagnosis and disease course monitoring. Results: A total of 432 endogenous metabolites were screened out from 122 serum samples, and 49 difference metabolites were verified, among which 12 difference metabolites were identified by nonparametric test. After material identification, eight metabolites exhibited reliable results, and their levels in MAP serum were higher than those in healthy serum. Four metabolites exhibited gradual downward trend with treatment process going on, and the differences were statistically significant (P < 0.05). Conclusion: Metabonomic analysis has revealed eight metabolites with potential diagnostic values toward MAP, among which four metabolites can be used to monitor the disease course.