Brief Article
Copyright ©2009 The WJG Press and Baishideng. All rights reserved.
World J Gastroenterol. Dec 28, 2009; 15(48): 6068-6074
Published online Dec 28, 2009. doi: 10.3748/wjg.15.6068
Elevated pro-inflammatory and lipotoxic mucosal lipids characterise irritable bowel syndrome
Kajsa Kajander, Eveliina Myllyluoma, Sinikka Kyrönpalo, Martin Rasmussen, Pentti Sipponen, Ismo Mattila, Tuulikki Seppänen-Laakso, Heikki Vapaatalo, Matej Orešič, Riitta Korpela
Kajsa Kajander, Eveliina Myllyluoma, Heikki Vapaatalo, Riitta Korpela, Institute of Biomedicine, Pharmacology, University of Helsinki, FI-00014, Helsinki, Finland
Kajsa Kajander, Eveliina Myllyluoma, Riitta Korpela, Valio Ltd, Research Centre, FI-00039, Helsinki, Finland
Sinikka Kyrönpalo, Martin Rasmussen, Tampere Health Centre and Department of Medicine, Tampere City Hospital, FI-33100, Tampere, Finland
Pentti Sipponen, Department of Pathology, Jorvi Hospital, Helsinki University Central Hospital, FI-02740, Espoo, Finland
Ismo Mattila, Tuulikki Seppänen-Laakso, Matej Orešič, VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland, FI-02044, Espoo, Finland
Riitta Korpela, Foundation for Nutrition Research, FI-00390, Helsinki, Finland
Author contributions: Kajander K, Myllyluoma E, Kyrönpalo S, Rasmussen M, Sipponen P, Vapaatalo H and Korpela R designed the study protocol; Rasmussen M acted as principal investigator; Kajander K, Myllyluoma E, Kyrönpalo S, Rasmussen M and Sipponen P recruited the subjects and collected the clinical samples; Mattila I, Seppänen-Laakso T and Orešič M performed the metabolomic analyses and bioinformatics; Kajander K wrote the paper with support from all the other authors.
Supported by Valio Ltd and the Finnish Funding Agency for Technology and Innovation (TEKES); the preparation of this manuscript was funded in part by the Academy of Finland
Correspondence to: Riitta Korpela, PhD, Professor, Institute of Biomedicine, Pharmacology, University of Helsinki, PO Box 63, FI-00014, Helsinki, Finland. riitta.korpela@valio.fi
Telephone: +358-10381-3026 Fax: +358-10381-3019
Received: May 20, 2009
Revised: November 2, 2009
Accepted: November 9, 2009
Published online: December 28, 2009
Abstract

AIM: To investigate the pathophysiology of irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) by comparing the global mucosal metabolic profiles of IBS patients with those of healthy controls.

METHODS: Fifteen IBS patients fulfilling the Rome II criteria, and nine healthy volunteers were included in the study. A combined lipidomics (UPLC/MS) and metabolomics (GC × GC-TOF) approach was used to achieve global metabolic profiles of mucosal biopsies from the ascending colon.

RESULTS: Overall, lipid levels were elevated in patients with IBS. The most significant upregulation was seen for pro-inflammatory lysophosphatidylcholines. Other lipid groups that were significantly upregulated in IBS patients were lipotoxic ceramides, glycosphingolipids, and di- and triacylglycerols. Among the metabolites, the cyclic ester 2(3H)-furanone was almost 14-fold upregulated in IBS patients compared to healthy subjects (P = 0.03).

CONCLUSION: IBS mucosa is characterised by a distinct pro-inflammatory and lipotoxic metabolic profile. Especially, there was an increase in several lipid species such as lysophospholipids and ceramides.

Keywords: Functional gastrointestinal diseases; Irritable bowel syndrome; Histopathology