Comprehensive and semi-quantitative analysis of carboxyl-containing metabolites related to gut microbiota on chronic kidney disease using 2-picolylamine isotopic labeling LC-MS/MS

Sci Rep. 2019 Dec 13;9(1):19075. doi: 10.1038/s41598-019-55600-1.

Abstract

Carboxyl-containing metabolites, such as bile acids and fatty acids, have many important functions and microbiota is involved in the production of them. In the previous study, we found that the chronic kidney disease (CKD) model mice raised under germ-free conditions provided more severe renal damage than the mice with commensal microbiota. However, the precise influence by the microbiome and carboxyl-containing metabolites to the renal functions is unknown. In this study, we aimed to develop a novel chemical isotope labeling-LC-MS/MS method using the 2-picolylamine and its isotopologue and applied the analysis of effects of microbiome and CKD pathophysiology. The developed semi-quantitative method provided the high accuracy not inferior to the absolute quantification. By comparing of four groups of mice, we found that both microbiota and renal function can alter the composition and level of these metabolites in both plasma and intestine. In particular, the intestinal level of indole-3-acetic acid, short-chain fatty acids and n-3 type of polyunsaturated fatty acid, which play important roles in the endothelial barrier function, were significantly lower in germ-free conditions mice with renal failure. Accordingly, it is suggested these metabolites might have a renoprotective effect on CKD by suppressing epithelial barrier disruption.

MeSH terms

  • Amines / chemical synthesis
  • Amines / chemistry*
  • Animals
  • Bile Acids and Salts / metabolism
  • Cecum / metabolism
  • Chromatography, Liquid
  • Feces / microbiology
  • Gastrointestinal Microbiome*
  • Indicators and Reagents
  • Isotope Labeling*
  • Metabolic Networks and Pathways
  • Metabolome*
  • Mice
  • Renal Insufficiency, Chronic / microbiology*
  • Specific Pathogen-Free Organisms
  • Tandem Mass Spectrometry*

Substances

  • Amines
  • Bile Acids and Salts
  • Indicators and Reagents