RESUMO
OBJECTIVE: To screen out potential biomarkers by analyzing fundamental nutrients in the bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF) before confirming the lung cancer. METHODS: In this study, 44 patients were enrolled with clinical information. The concentrations of 23 amino acids and 35 carnitines in their BALF were detected with the high-performance liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (HPLC-MS). Combined with clinicopathological diagnosis, the patients were divided into the lung cancer group (grades I & II and III & IV) and the non-cancer group for standard statistical analysis. RESULTS: The partial least squares-discriminant analysis (PLS-DA), the Shapiro-Wilk test, and the Bonferroni correction results showed that the serine concentration was higher and the butane-diacyl-carnitine (C4DC) concentration was lower in the lung cancer group, further showing the same changing trend continuously through the non-cancer stage, grades I & II stage and grades III & IV stage. Those two potential biomarkers have been identified. CONCLUSION: The HPLC-MS target detection in clinic for nutrient concentration levels is a promising technique to find the changing concentration of serine and C4DC in BALF, which provides an economical and practical way for early warning of lung cancer.