ArticlePeerJ2021
Serum metabolomic profiling reveals an increase in homocitrulline in Chinese patients with nonalcoholic fatty liver disease: a retrospective study.
Article in PeerJ, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 10 papers.
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10 citing papers in PubMed, 13 citations in OpenAlex.
- Urea cycle dysregulation and arginine pathways in the pathogenesis of NAFLD and NASH (Review).International journal of molecular medicine · 2026Review
- Lysophosphatidylethanolamine (LysoPE) in health and disease: a narrative review of its pathophysiological mechanisms and translational potential as a biomarker.Frontiers in cell and developmental biology · 2026Review
- Selenium enrichment enhances the alleviating effect ofCurrent research in food science · 2025Article
- Metabolomic Hallmarks of Obesity and Metabolic Dysfunction-Associated Steatotic Liver Disease.International journal of molecular sciences · 2024Review
- Early-life antibiotic exposure aggravate the metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease associated hepatocellular carcinoma.BMC cancer · 2024Article
- Disordered Gut Microbiome and Alterations in Metabolic Patterns Are Associated With Hypertensive Left Ventricular Hypertrophy.Journal of the American Heart Association · 2024Article
- Article
- Effects of Deoxynivalenol and Its Acetylated Derivatives on Lipid Metabolism in Human Normal Hepatocytes.Toxins · 2024Article
- Hepatocyte steatosis activates macrophage inflammatory response accelerating atherosclerosis development.Zhejiang da xue xue bao. Yi xue ban = Journal of Zhejiang University. Medical sciences · 2023Article
- Diosgenin Ameliorates Non-alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease by Modulating the Gut Microbiota and Related Lipid/Amino Acid Metabolism in High Fat Diet-Fed Rats.Frontiers in pharmacology · 2022Article
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Authors and funding
8 authors at 3 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundsNonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) has multiple causes, is triggered by individual genetic susceptibility, environmental factors, and metabolic disturbances, and may be triggered by acquired metabolic stress. The metabolic profiles of NAFLD show significant ethnic differences, and the metabolic characteristics of NAFLD in Chinese individuals are unclear. Our study aimed to identify the metabolites and pathways associated with NAFLD in a Chinese cohort.
methodsOne hundred participants, including 50 NAFLD patients and 50 healthy controls, were enrolled in this retrospective observational study at Jinling Hospital in Nanjing; serum samples were collected from the patients and healthy subjects. The metabolome was determined in all samples by liquid chromatography-hybrid quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometry (LC-Q/TOF-MS). Univariate and multivariate statistical analyses were used to compare the metabolic profiles between the two groups.
resultsThe comparison indicated that the levels of 89 metabolites were different between the two groups. The glycerophospholipid family of metabolites was the most abundant family of metabolites that demonstrated significant differences. L-acetylcarnitine, L-homocitrulline, and glutamic acid were the top three metabolites ranked by VIP score and had favorable effective functions for diagnosis. Moreover, pathway enrichment analysis suggested 14 potentially different metabolic pathways between NAFLD patients and healthy controls based on their impact value. Biological modules involved in the lipid and carbohydrate metabolism had the highest relevance to the conditions of NAFLD. Glycerophospholipid metabolism had the strongest associations with the conditions of NAFLD.
conclusionsOur data suggest that the serum metabolic profiles of NAFLD patients and healthy controls are different. L-Homocitrulline was remarkably increased in NAFLD patients.
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