Abstract
Objective
Welding fume exposure is inevitable of welding workers and poses a severe hazard to their health since welding is a necessary industrial process. Thus, preclinical diagnostic symptoms of worker exposure are of great importance. The aim of this study was to screen serum differential metabolites of welding fume exposure based on UPLC–QTOF-MS/MS.
Methods
In 2019, 49 participants were recruited at a machinery manufacturing factory. The non-target metabolomics technique was used to clarify serum metabolic signatures in people exposed to welding fume. Differential metabolites were screened by OPLS-DA analysis and Student's t-test. The receiver operating characteristic curve evaluated the discriminatory power of differential metabolites. And the correlations between differential metabolites and metal concentrations in urine and whole blood were analyzed utilizing Pearson correlation analysis.
Results
Thirty metabolites were increased significantly, and 5 metabolites were decreased. The differential metabolites are mainly enriched in the metabolism of arachidonic acid, glycero phospholipid, linoleic acid, and thiamine. These results observed that lysophosphatidylcholine (20:1/0:0) and phosphatidylglycerol(PGF1α/16:0) had a tremendous anticipating power with relatively increased AUC values (AUC > 0.9), and they also presented a significant correlation of Mo concentrations in whole blood and Cu concentrations in urine, respectively.
Conclusion
The serum metabolism was changed significantly after exposure to welding fume. Lysophosphatidylcholine (20:1/0:0) and phosphatidylglycerol (PGF1α/16:0) may be a potential biological mediator and biomarker for laborers exposure to welding fume.
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Data availability
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Funding
This work was supported by the Key Technology Project of State Administration of Work Safety (2017005) and the National Center for Occupational Safety and Health Self-management Project of China (2019009).
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CD and JF contributed to the study conception and design. FP was involved in practical part, data analysis, manuscript drafting, and editing. LY and CZ were involved in data analysis, manuscript editing. QL, KY, KZ, YZ, WL and YL were involved in the practical part. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.
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This study followed the Declaration of Helsinki, and the Medical Ethical Review Committee. This study was approved by the Medical Ethical Review Committee, National Center for Occupational Safety and Health (2021004).
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Peng, F., Yu, L., Zhang, C. et al. Analysis of serum metabolome of laborers exposure to welding fume. Int Arch Occup Environ Health 96, 1029–1037 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00420-023-01987-4
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00420-023-01987-4