Seminal plasma untargeted metabolomic and lipidomic profiling for the identification of a novel panel of biomarkers and therapeutic targets related to male infertility

• DOI: 10.3389/fphar.2023.1275832
• Publication Date: 2023-09-28T05:34:35Z
• Authors: Serena Correnti; Mariaimmacolata P...; Annalisa Fregola; Fabia Gamboni; Daniel Stephenson; Rocco Savino; Angelo D’Alessandro; Rosa Terracciano
• Keywords: Semen Analysis; Metabolome; Biomarker Discovery; Lysophosphatidylethanolamine

Male infertility occurs approximately in about 50% of all cases and represents a serious concern worldwide. Traditional semen analysis alone is insufficient to diagnose male infertility. Over the past two decades, advances omics technologies have led widespread application metabolomics profiling as valuable diagnostic tool for various diseases disorders. Seminal plasma rich easily accessible source metabolites surrounding spermatozoa, milieu that provides several indispensable nutrients sustain sperm motility fertilization. Changes metabolic profiles seminal reflect reproductive tract Here, we performed lipidomics identify new pattern biomarkers samples from unfertile subjects ( n = 31) fertile controls 19) were analyzed using an untargeted metabolomics/lipidomics integrated approach, based on Ultra-High-Pressure Liquid Chromatography–tandem Mass Spectrometry. Partial Least Squares-Discriminant Analysis showed distinct separation between healthy men infertile subjects. Among 15 selected candidate Variable Importance Projection scores, phosphatidylethanolamine (PE) (18:1; 18:1) resulted with highest score. In total, 40 molecular species statistically significant variations men. Heat-map volcano plot indicated acylcarnitines, phosphatidylserine (PS) (40:2) lactate decreased, while PE 18:1), Phosphatidic acid (PA) (O-19:2; Lysophosphatidylethanolamine (LPE) (O-16:1) Phosphatidylcholine (PC) (O-16:2; 18:1)-CH3 increased group. The present study first one analyze dysregulation individuals regardless sub-infertility condition. Association metabolites/lipids reinforced data previous studies different approaches. particular, confirmed significantly decreased levels PS carnitines patients well positive correlation morphology. If validated larger prospective cohort, metabolite identified might inform novel strategies diagnosis interventions overcome