Oid arthritis. CRP and fibrinogen are acute phase proteins [4] that areOid arthritis. CRP and

Oid arthritis. CRP and fibrinogen are acute phase proteins [4] that are
Oid arthritis. CRP and fibrinogen are acute phase proteins [4] that are secreted from the liver upon interleukin 6 (IL-6) stimulation; PubMed ID:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25447644 IL-6 is released by activated macrophages and T cells. The primary role of CRP is binding to phospholipid species of damaged cells or pathogens to initiate the complement system. As the cause of tissue damage could be from various sources, elevations in hsCRP reflect a general inflammatory response rather than being attributed to a specific cause [5]. Another routinely measured indicator of systemic inflammation in particular is WBC [6]. Studies have shown elevated WBC levels not only during infection [7], but also in relation to cardiovascular diseases [8], T2DM [9], or FPS-ZM1 site metabolic syndrome [10]. Thus, all three inflammatory markers ?hsCRP, fibrinogen, and WBC ?are clinically useful in the diagnosis and follow-up of diseases. Considering the close link of (chronic) inflammation with common diseases and its burden on the patient andthe health system, improving the understanding about the metabolic implications of low-grade chronic inflammatory processes is an urgent need. A suitable tool for this purpose is metabolic profiling, as it allows the investigation of a broad range of small molecules (metabolites) in various body fluids. Consequently, the analysis of these metabolites in relation to inflammatory markers such as hsCRP, WBC, or fibrinogen enables the identification of alterations at the molecular level and thereby characterizes the (subclinical) inflammatory state. Previous studies have identified metabolites such as fatty acids, like arachidonic PubMed ID:http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/27689333 acid or palmitate, various lysophosphatidylcholines (lysoPC) (18:1 and 18:2), metabolites of purine metabolism, and amino acids associated with inflammatory processes in patients suffering from obesity [11], T2DM [12, 13], and their complications [14, 15]. To gain a deeper insight into inflammation-related metabolism, the present study combined non-targeted, i.e., based on liquid-chromatography coupled with tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS), and targeted, i.e., based on high-performance LC-MS/MS and 1H-NMR spectroscopy, metabolomics approaches. Through an investigation of metabolic patterns associated with alterations in hsCRP, WBC, and fibrinogen levels in humans in both plasma and urine, we are the first to generate a compilation of metabolites spanning multiple pathways, thus providing a link between metabolism and inflammation in a large non-diabetic sample of the general population.MethodsStudy populationThe Study of Health in Pomerania (SHIP-TREND) is a population-based study located in West Pomerania, a rural region in north-east Germany [16]. A stratified (age, sex, and city/country of residence), random sample of 8826 adults aged 20?9 years was drawn from population registries. Sample selection was facilitated by centralization of local population registries in the Federal State of Mecklenburg, West Pomerania. Baseline examinations were conducted between 2008 and 2012. In total, 4420 subjects chose to participate (50.1 response). All participants gave written informed consent before taking part in the study. The study was approved by the ethics committee of the University of Greifswald and conformed to the principles of the Declaration of Helsinki. SHIP data are publicly available for scientific and quality control purposes. Data usage can be applied for via www.community-medicine.de. Plasma and urine metabolomics data based on MS and NMR were.