RESUMO
BACKGROUND: Parkinson's disease (PD) is by now the second of the most prevalent neurodegenerative diseases in the world, and its incidence is increasing rapidly as the global population ages, with 14.2 million PD patients expected worldwide by 2040. METHODS: We gathered a completion of 45 serum samples, including 15 of healthy controls and 30 from the PD group. We used non-targeted metabolomics analysis based on liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry to identify the molecular changes in PD patients, and conducted bioinformatics analysis on this basis to explore the possible pathogenesis of PD. RESULTS: We found significant metabolomics changes in the levels of 30 metabolites in PD patients compared with healthy controls. CONCLUSION: Lipids and lipid-like molecules accounted for the majority of the 30 differentially expressed metabolites. Also, pathway enrichment analysis showed significant enrichment in sphingolipid metabolic pathway. These assessments can improve our perception on the underlying mechanism of PD as well as facilitate a better targeting on therapeutic interventions.