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Investigation of metabolite alterations in the kidneys of methionine-choline-deficient mouse by mass spectrometry imaging

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Abstract

Methionine and choline both are essential nutrients which are needed for methyl group metabolism. A methionine-choline-deficient (MCD) diet leads to pathological changes in the kidney. The mechanism of the MCD diet is complex, and fundamental research is still required to provide a better understanding of the driving forces behind it. We evaluated the regional effects of the MCD diet on the metabolites of mouse kidney tissue using desorption electrospray ionization mass spectrometry imaging technology. A total of 20, 17, and 13 metabolites were significantly changed in the cortex, outer medulla, and inner medulla, respectively, of the mouse kidney tissue after the administration of the MCD diet. Among the discriminating metabolites, only three metabolites (guanidoacetic acid, serine, and nicotinamide riboside) were significantly increased, and all the other metabolites showed a significant decrease. The results showed that there were significant region-specific changes in the serine metabolism, carnitine metabolism, choline metabolism, and arginine metabolism. This study presents unique regional metabolic data, providing a more comprehensive understanding of the molecular characteristics of the MCD diet in the kidney.

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Abbreviations

MCD:

Methionine-choline-deficient

MSI:

Mass spectrometry imaging

DESI-MSI:

Desorption electrospray ionization mass spectrometry imaging

H&E:

Hematoxylin and eosin

GPC:

Glycerophosphocholine

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Acknowledgements

We thank Professor Guangming Huang (University of Science and Technology of China) for the provision of Exactive Plus mass spectrometer and DESI platform.

Funding

This research was supported by the Anhui University of Chinese Medicine Talent Support Program (No.: 2022rcyb009), Anhui Provincial Natural Science Foundation (No.: 2108085J45), and Natural Science Research Project of Anhui Educational Committee (No.: 2022AH050498).

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Author notes

  1. Xiaoqun Wang and Yingying Hu contributed equally to this work.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Pharmacy, Anhui University of Chinese Medicine, Hefei, 230012, Anhui, China

    Xiaoqun Wang, Yingying Hu, Wentao Zhu & Dianlei Wang

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Contributions

XW: conceptualization, methodology, software, writing—original draft, data curation, investigation, project administration, visualization. YH: conceptualization, methodology, investigation, resources. WZ: conceptualization, methodology, resources. DW: resources, supervision, writing—review and editing.

Corresponding authors

Correspondence to Xiaoqun Wang or Dianlei Wang.

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Ethics approval

The use of laboratory animals and all study protocols were approved by the Animal Protection Committee and Use Committee of Anhui University of Chinese Medicine.

Source of biological material

Male C57BL/6J mice were obtained from Jiangsu Huachuang Sino Pharmatech Co., Ltd..

Statement on animal welfare

The management and use of animals during the experiment comply with the relevant regulations of “Guide for the Care and Use of Laboratory Animals issued by the National Research Council of the United States (2010),” “Regulations for the administration of affairs concerning laboratory animals (2017)” issued by the Science and Technology Commission of China, and the relevant regulations provided by the Animal Protection Committee and Use Committee of Anhui University of Chinese Medicine.

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Wang, X., Hu, Y., Zhu, W. et al. Investigation of metabolite alterations in the kidneys of methionine-choline-deficient mouse by mass spectrometry imaging. Anal Bioanal Chem 416, 1011–1022 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00216-023-05091-x

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