Plasma lipidomics in early APP/PS1 female mouse model and its relationship with brain: Is it affected by the estrous cycle?

BACKGROUND: Alzheimer's disease (AD) is the most prevalent dementia, showing higher incidence in women. Besides, lipids play an essential role in brain, and they could be dysregulated in neurodegeneration. Specifically, impaired plasma lipid levels could predict early AD diagnosis. This work aims to identify the main plasma lipids altered in early AD female mouse model and evaluate their relationship with brain lipidome. Also, the possible involvement of the estrous cycle in lipid metabolism has been evaluated. METHODS: Plasma samples of wild-type (n = 10) and APP/PS1 (n = 10) female mice of 5 months of age were collected, processed, and analysed using a lipidomic mass spectrometry-based method. A statistical analysis involving univariate and multivariate approaches was performed to identify significant lipid differences related to AD between groups. Also, cytology tests were conducted to confirm estrous cycle phases. RESULTS: Three hundred thirty lipids were detected in plasma, 18 of them showed significant differences between groups; specifically, some triacylglycerols, cholesteryl esters, lysophosphatidylcholines, phosphatidylcholines, and ether-linked phosphatidylcholines, increased in early AD; while other phosphatidylcholines, phosphatidylethanolamines, ceramides, and ether-linked phosphatidylethanolamines decreased in early AD. A multivariate approach was developed from some lipid variables, showing high diagnostic indexes (70% sensitivity, 90% specificity, 80% accuracy). From brain and plasma lipidome, some significant correlations were observed, mainly in the glycerophospholipid family. Also, some differences were found in both plasma and brain lipids, according to the estrous cycle phase. CONCLUSIONS: Therefore, lipid alterations can be identified in plasma at early AD stages in mice females, with a relationship with brain lipid metabolism for most of the lipid subfamilies, suggesting some lipids as potential AD biomarkers. In addition, the estrous cycle monitoring could be relevant in female studies.

Relationship between Plasma Lipid Profile and Cognitive Status in Early Alzheimer Disease.

Alzheimer disease (AD) is a heterogeneous and complex disease in which different pathophysiological mechanisms are involved. This heterogenicity can be reflected in different atrophy patterns or clinical manifestations. Regarding biochemical pathways involved in early AD, lipid metabolism plays an important role; therefore, lipid levels have been evaluated as potential AD diagnosis biomarkers, and their levels could be related to different AD clinical manifestations. Therefore, the aim of this work is to study AD lipid profiles from early AD patients and evaluate their clinical significance. For this purpose, untargeted plasma lipidomic analysis was carried out in early AD patients (n = 31) diagnosed with cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) biomarkers. Cluster analysis was carried out to define early AD subgroups according to the lipid levels. Then, the clinical significance of each lipid profile subgroup was studied, analyzing differences for other variables (cognitive status, CSF biomarkers, medication, comorbidities, age, and gender). The cluster analysis revealed two different groups of AD patients. Cluster 1 showed higher levels of plasma lipids and better cognitive status than Cluster 2. However, no differences were found for the other variables (age, gender, medication, comorbidities, cholesterol, and triglycerides levels) between both groups. Plasma lipid levels could differentiate two early AD subgroups, which showed different cognitive statuses. However, further research with a large cohort and longitudinal study evaluating the clinical evolution of these patients is required. In general, it would involve a relevant advance in the knowledge of AD pathological mechanisms, potential treatments, and precision medicine.

Brain areas lipidomics in female transgenic mouse model of Alzheimer's disease.

Lipids are the major component of the brain with important structural and functional properties. Lipid disruption could play a relevant role in Alzheimer's disease (AD). Some brain lipidomic studies showed significant differences compared to controls, but few studies have focused on different brain areas related to AD. Furthermore, AD is more prevalent in females, but there is a lack of studies focusing on this sex. This work aims to perform a lipidomic study in selected brain areas (cerebellum, amygdala, hippocampus, entire cortex) from wild-type (WT, n = 10) and APPswe/PS1dE9 transgenic (TG, n = 10) female mice of 5 months of age, as a model of early AD, to identify alterations in lipid composition. A lipidomic mass spectrometry-based method was optimized and applied to brain tissue. As result, some lipids showed statistically significant differences between mice groups in cerebellum (n = 68), amygdala (n = 49), hippocampus (n = 48), and the cortex (n = 22). In addition, some lipids (n = 15) from the glycerolipid, phospholipid, and sphingolipid families were statistically significant in several brain areas simultaneously between WT and TG. A selection of lipid variables was made to develop a multivariate approach to assess their discriminant potential, showing high diagnostic indexes, especially in cerebellum and amygdala (sensitivity 70-100%, sensibility 80-100%).

Early Alzheimer's Disease Screening Approach Using Plasma Biomarkers.

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is the most prevalent dementia, but it shows similar initial symptoms to other neurocognitive diseases (Lewy body disease (LBD) and frontotemporal dementia (FTD)). Thus, the identification of reliable AD plasma biomarkers is required. The aim of this work is to evaluate the use of a few plasma biomarkers to develop an early and specific AD screening method. Plasma p-Tau181, neurofilament light (NfL), and glial fibrillary acid protein (GFAP) were determined by Single Molecule Assay (SIMOA® Quanterix, Billerica, MA, USA) in patients with mild cognitive impairment due to AD (MCI-AD, n = 50), AD dementia (n = 10), FTD (n = 20), LBD (n = 5), and subjective cognitive impairment (SCI (n = 21)). Plasma p-Tau181 and GFAP showed the highest levels in AD dementia, and significant correlations with clinical AD characteristics; meanwhile, NfL showed the highest levels in FTD, but no significant correlations with AD. The partial least squares (PLS) diagnosis model developed between the AD and SCI groups showed good accuracy with a receiver operating characteristic (ROC) area under curve (AUC) of 0.935 (CI 95% 0.87-0.98), sensitivity of 86%, and specificity of 88%. In a first screen, NfL plasma levels could identify FTD patients among subjects with cognitive impairment. Then, the developed PLS model including p-Tau181 and GFAP levels could identify AD patients, constituting a simple, early, and specific diagnosis approach.

Assessment of Plasma and Cerebrospinal Fluid Biomarkers in Different Stages of Alzheimer's Disease and Frontotemporal Dementia.

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is the primary type of dementia, followed by frontotemporal lobar degeneration (FTLD). They share some clinical characteristics, mainly at the early stages. So, the identification of early, specific, and minimally invasive biomarkers is required. In this study, some plasma biomarkers (Amyloid ß42, p-Tau181, t-Tau, neurofilament light (NfL), TAR DNA-binding protein 43 (TDP-43)) were determined by single molecule array technology (SIMOA®) in control subjects (n = 22), mild cognitive impairment due to AD (MCI-AD, n = 33), mild dementia due to AD (n = 12), and FTLD (n = 11) patients. The correlations between plasma and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) levels and the accuracy of plasma biomarkers for AD early diagnosis and discriminating from FTLD were analyzed. As result, plasma p-Tau181 and NfL levels correlated with the corresponding CSF levels. Additionally, plasma p-Tau181 showed good accuracy for distinguishing between the controls and AD, as well as discriminating between AD and FTLD. Moreover, plasma NfL could discriminate dementia-AD vs. controls, FTLD vs. controls, and MCI-AD vs. dementia-AD. Therefore, the determination of these biomarkers in plasma is potentially helpful in AD spectrum diagnosis, but also discriminating from FTLD. In addition, the accessibility of these potential early and specific biomarkers may be useful for AD screening protocols in the future.

Plasma microRNAs as potential biomarkers in early Alzheimer disease expression.

The microRNAs (miRNAs) are potential biomarkers for complex pathologies due to their involvement in the regulation of several pathways. Alzheimer Disease (AD) requires new biomarkers in minimally invasive samples that allow an early diagnosis. The aim of this work is to study miRNAS as potential AD biomarkers and their role in the pathology development. In this study, participants (n = 46) were classified into mild cognitive impairment due to AD (MCI-AD, n = 19), preclinical AD (n = 8) and healthy elderly controls (n = 19), according to CSF biomarkers levels (amyloid ß42, total tau, phosphorylated tau) and neuropsychological assessment. Then, plasma miRNAomic expression profiles were analysed by Next Generation Sequencing. Finally, the selected miRNAs were validated by quantitative PCR (q-PCR). A panel of 11 miRNAs was selected from omics expression analysis, and 8 of them were validated by q-PCR. Individually, they did not show statistically significant differences among participant groups. However, a multivariate model including these 8 miRNAs revealed a potential association with AD for three of them. Specifically, relatively lower expression levels of miR-92a-3p and miR-486-5p are observed in AD patients, and relatively higher levels of miR-29a-3p are observed in AD patients. These biomarkers could be involved in the regulation of pathways such as synaptic transmission, structural functions, cell signalling and metabolism or transcription regulation. Some plasma miRNAs (miRNA-92a-3p, miRNA-486-5p, miRNA-29a-3p) are slightly dysregulated in AD, being potential biomarkers of the pathology. However, more studies with a large sample size should be carried out to verify these results, as well as to further investigate the mechanisms of action of these miRNAs.

Dispersive solid-phase extraction and immunoassay with internal reference calibration using fatty acid-coated inorganic fluorescent nanoparticles.

Dispersive solid-phase extraction (dSPE) using fatty acid-coated Eu2O3 nanoparticles (NPs) was developed, and a direct immunoassay was carried out employing these NPs as support. Secondary antibodies labeled with fluorophore groups were used as reporters, and the intrinsic optical properties of the Eu2O3 NPs were employed as an internal calibration of the detection system. The methodology was optimized for both dSPE-NP amount, sample volume, extraction time, ionic strength, and pH-and immunoassay-immunoreagent concentrations, ionic strength, and incubation time. As proof of concept, the methodology was applied to the bovine serum albumin (BSA)/anti-BSA system, and precision of the method was between 5% and 17% with an IC50 of 100 nM. Then, water samples with high saline content (sea water) were assayed to observe the matrix effect, and average recoveries (n = 3) between 78% and 108% were obtained, demonstrating the reliability of the developed analytical method. Finally, the simultaneous dSPE-immunoassay methodology was applied to other compounds with very different chemical characteristics such as an oligonucleotide, the antibiotic sulfamerazine, and the pesticide chlorpyriphos. Although the IC50 values for sulfamerazine were approximately 2400 nM, satisfactory standard curves were obtained. However, poor reproducibility and sensitivity results were obtained for the oligonucleotide and chlorpyriphos preliminary assays.

Development of a fully automated sequential injection solid-phase extraction procedure coupled to liquid chromatography to determine free 2-hydroxy-4-methoxybenzophenone and 2-hydroxy-4-methoxybenzophenone-5-sulphonic acid in human urine.

2-Hydroxy-4-methoxybenzophenone and 2-hydroxy-4-methoxybenzophenone-5-sulphonic acid, commonly known as benzophenone-3 (BZ3) and benzophenone-4 (BZ4), respectively, are substances widely used as UV filters in cosmetic products in order to absorb UV radiation and protect human skin from direct exposure to the deleterious wavelengths of sunlight. As with other UV filters, there is evidence of their percutaneous absorption. This work describes an analytical method developed to determine trace levels of free BZ3 and BZ4 in human urine. The methodology is based on a solid-phase extraction (SPE) procedure for clean-up and pre-concentration, followed by the monitoring of the UV filters by liquid chromatography-ultraviolet spectrophotometry detection (LC-UV). In order to improve not only the sensitivity and selectivity, but also the precision of the method, the principle of sequential injection analysis was used to automate the SPE process and to transfer the eluates from the SPE to the LC system. The application of a six-channel valve as an interface for the switching arrangements successfully allowed the on-line connection of SPE sample processing with LC analysis. The SPE process for BZ3 and BZ4 was performed using octadecyl (C18) and diethylaminopropyl (DEA) modified silica microcolumns, respectively, in which the analytes were retained and eluted selectively. Due to the matrix effects, the determination was based on standard addition quantification and was fully validated. The relative standard deviations of the results were 13% and 6% for BZ3 and BZ4, respectively, whereas the limits of detection were 60 and 30 ng mL(-1), respectively. The method was satisfactorily applied to determine BZ3 and BZ4 in urine from volunteers that had applied a sunscreen cosmetic containing both UV filters.

A gas chromatography-mass spectrometric method to determine skin-whitening agents in cosmetic products.

An analytical method is proposed here to determine three allowed (kojic acid, azelaic acid and arbutin) and two forbidden (resorcinol and hydroquinone) skin-whitening agents in cosmetics. The method is based on gas chromatography coupled with mass spectrometric detection, which allows the two prohibited target compounds to be identified unequivocally by means of their mass spectra acquired in full-scan mode at the retention time of these compounds. Owing to their low volatility, target analytes are derivatized using N,O-bis-(trimethylsilyl)trifluoroacetamide (BSTFA) (containing 1% trimethylchlorosylane) prior to injection into the chromatographic system. The accuracy and precision of the proposed method were evaluated by analysing a laboratory-made skin-whitening cosmetic sample containing known amounts of the five target compounds. The method can be easily applied by the manufacturers in the quality control of their own products, and also by safety authorities to prevent fraudulent operations and thus look after consumers' health. The proposed method was successfully applied to the analysis of nine commercial skin-whitening cosmetic products, showing that fraud was committed in four of the analyzed samples.

A rapid and reliable size-exclusion chromatographic method for determination of kojic dipalmitate in skin-whitening cosmetic products.

A size-exclusion chromatographic method has been developed to determine the relatively novel skin-whitening agent called kojic dipalmitate (KDP) in skin-whitening cosmetic products. Preliminary experiments were carried out in order to select the solvent for standard and sample solution, and also for mobile phase composition. A PLGel Mixed-D (polystyrene/divinylbenzene co-polymer) column and isocratic mobile phase of pure tetrahydrofuran (at 1.5 mL min(-1) flow rate) were used. Detection was carried out by means of an UV/vis spectrometry detector set at 248 nm. A study of interferences reveals that KDP can be determined without interferences coming from cosmetic matrices. Most other cosmetic ingredients usually employed in skin-whitening cosmetic products, such as other whitening agents and common UV filters, do not interfere. The accuracy and precision of the proposed method was tested by the analysis of six laboratory-made and five commercial skin-whitening cosmetic samples. The sensitivity and limit of detection (3 microg mL(-1)) obtained are suitable for the analysis of this type of samples. The chromatographic run takes less than 8 min to complete. All these features make the method easy to apply to quality control in the cosmetic industry.

Environmentally friendly LC for the simultaneous determination of ascorbic acid and its derivatives in skin-whitening cosmetics.

Ascorbic acid (AA), also known as vitamin C, is a very popular skin-whitening agent used in cosmetics. However, the use of AA (and also its sodium or magnesium salts) in cosmetic products is limited owing to its labile oxidative properties. In order to avoid its early degradation, different derivatives have been designed, such as ascorbyl phosphate (APH; as magnesium or sodium salts) and ascorbyl palmitate (AP), and more recently the ascorbyl glucoside (AG). Bearing in mind that all these chemicals in skin-whitening cosmetic products must be determined in order to control the efficacy of such products, this paper focuses on developing a wide-ranging LC analytical method able to determine the above-mentioned compounds simultaneously in cosmetic products. The chromatographic variables were studied and selected in order to achieve the total separation and subsequent determination of all the analytes involved. Thus, an octadecylsilica (C(18)) stationary phase and a mobile phase gradient of ethanol: 50 mM phosphate buffer at different pHs (containing 0.1 M NaCl) were used. Detection was carried out with a UV/visible spectrometry detector set at different wavelengths. The LOD ranged from 2 to 6 microg/mL depending on the analyte. The proposed method was validated by analysing a laboratory-made and six commercial skin-whitening cosmetic samples. The method allows any mixture of the four skin-whitening agents studied to be both separated at good resolution and determined without interferences from samples, and moreover it does not require the use of either highly toxic organic solvents or hazardous chemicals.