Lipid profiles from dried blood spots reveal lipidomic signatures of newborns undergoing mild therapeutic hypothermia after hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy

Rebekah Nixon, Ting Hin Richard Ip, Benjamin Jenkins, Ping K. Yip, Paul Clarke, Vennila Ponnusamy, Adina T. Michael-Titus, Albert Koulman, Divyen K. Shah

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Abstract

Hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy (HIE) is associated with perinatal brain injury, which may lead to disability or death. As the brain is a lipid-rich organ, various lipid species can be significantly impacted by HIE and these correlate with specific changes to the lipidomic profile in the circulation. Objective: To investigate the peripheral blood lipidomic signature in dried blood spots (DBS) from newborns with HIE. Using univariate analysis, multivariate analysis and sPLS-DA modelling, we show that newborns with moderate–severe HIE (n = 46) who underwent therapeutic hypothermia (TH) displayed a robust peripheral blood lipidomic signature comprising 29 lipid species in four lipid classes; namely phosphatidylcholine (PC), lysophosphatidylcholine (LPC), triglyceride (TG) and sphingomyelin (SM) when compared with newborns with mild HIE (n = 18). In sPLS-DA modelling, the three most discriminant lipid species were TG 50:3, TG 54:5, and PC 36:5. We report a reduction in plasma TG and SM and an increase in plasma PC and LPC species during the course of TH in newborns with moderate–severe HIE, compared to a single specimen from newborns with mild HIE. These findings may guide the research in nutrition-based intervention strategies after HIE in synergy with TH to enhance neuroprotection.
Original languageEnglish
Article number4301
JournalNutrients
Volume13
Issue number12
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 28 Nov 2021

Keywords

  • Brain
  • Dried blood spot
  • Hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy
  • Lipidome
  • Lipids
  • Newborn
  • Nutrition
  • Therapeutic hypothermia

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