Differences between the metabolic profiles of decompensated and compensated cirrhosis patients with Hepatitis B virus infections under high-performance liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry

摘要

To improve the grading and staging of liver cirrhosis among patients with HBV infection noninvasively, a high-performance liquid chromatography with mass spectrometry metabolomics method was used to investigate the potential metabolic biomarkers in the serum of patients with different degrees of hepatic cirrhosis. The results demonstrate that lysophosphatidyl choline (LPC) from positive electrospray ionization (ESI) mode, and fatty acids and bile acids from negative ESI mode play important roles in distinguishing decompensated from compensated cirrhosis. A total of 21 differential metabolites were found from the two groups of patients. LPCs, fatty acids, and taurocholic acid (TCA) 3-sulfate decreased in patients with decompensated cirrhosis, whereas other bile acids increased significantly. The levels of TCA 3-sulfate, LPC 16:0, and LPC 18:0 were significantly correlated with the stages of the decompensated cirrhosis, and they may serve as potential biomarkers for the stage assessment of liver cirrhosis in patients with HBV infections.