Metabolomic Analysis of the Liver of a Dextran Sodium Sulfate-Induced Acute Colitis Mouse Model: Implications of the Gut–Liver Connection
Sou Hyun Kim, Won‐Ho Lee, Doyoung Kwon, Seunghyun Lee, Seung Won Son, Min‐Soo Seo, Kil‐Soo Kim, Yun‐Hee Lee, Suhkmann Kim, Young‐Suk Jung
Abstract
The incidence of ulcerative colitis (UC) is increasing worldwide, and it has become a growing problem in Asia. Previous research on UC has focused on serum, plasma, urine, gut tissues, and fecal metabolic profiling, but a comprehensive investigation into the correlation between the severity of colitis and changes in liver metabolism is still lacking. Since the liver and gut exchange nutrients and metabolites through a complex network, intestinal diseases can affect both the liver and other organs. In the present study, concentration-dependent dextran sodium sulfate (DSS)-induced ulcerative colitis was employed to examine changes in liver metabolism using a proton nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy (1H-NMR)-and ultra-performance liquid chromatography time of flight mass spectroscopy (UPLC-TOF MS)-based metabolomics study. Using the multivariate statistical analysis method orthogonal projections to latent structures discriminant analysis (OPLS-DA), changes in metabolites depending on the DSS dose could be clearly distinguished. Specifically, hepatic metabolites involved in one-carbon metabolism, carnitine-related metabolism, and nucleotide synthesis were found to be affected by intestinal inflammation, implying the existence of a metabolic connection between the gut and liver. We are currently investigating the significance of this metabolic condition in UC.