Metabolomic analysis of glycerophospholipid signatures of inflammation treated with non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs-induced-RAW264.7 cells using 1H NMR and U-HPLC/Q-TOF-MS

Non-destructive proton nuclear magnetic resonance ( 1 H NMR) spectroscopy and highly sensitive ultra-performance liquid chromatography quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometry (U-HPLC/Q-TOF-MS) coupled to data processing methods were applied to analyze the metabolic profiling changes of glycerophospholipids (GPLs) in RAW264.7 cells from inflammation to prognosis. Analysis of 1 H NMR was shown that the models were grouped successfully, illustrating that all of them had significant differences. Based on the highly simple, accurate, non-targeted and non-destructively advantages of 1 H NMR, it could be used as a new screening tool of anti-inflammatory drugs in the metabolic profiling of GPLs. 58 GPLs were identified by U-HPLC/Q-TOF-MS, and 19 components were firstly identified in this study compared with our previous results. In addition, ten potential biomarkers were proved, of which phosphatidylcholine (PC) (16:0/18:1) and (18:0/18:1) changed consistently in three drug-induced groups and might be the important biomarkers. Compared with 1 H NMR, U-HPLC/Q-TOF-MS showed higher sensitivity and specificity and was more suitable for the determination of biomarkers apart from the deficiency of time-consuming sample preparation steps and unambiguous metabolite identification. Therefore, it is feasible to analyze the changes of GPLs during inflammation by combining 1 H NMR spectroscopy with U-HPLC/Q-TOF-MS. The metabolic profiling of GPLs provides valuable evidence for inflammation diagnosis and prognosis, and might unravel the mechanisms involved in inflammation progression.