Metabolomics analysis revealed acupuncture treatment target the upstream for dry eye disease

AIM: To find out the pathogenesis of dry eye disease (DED) and the possible mechanisms of available effective treatments. METHODS: A non-targeted technology, ultra-high performance liquid chromatography coupled with quadrupole-time-of-flight mass spectrometry (UHPLC-Q-TOF-MS), to investigate metabolic characterizations for tear samples from 18 patients with DED upon drug or acupuncture treatment. RESULTS: A total of 190 named metabolites were identified, which presented so far the broadest tear metabolome. Further analysis indicated a significantly distinct metabolomics profile among all patients, but very subtle metabolic differences upon drug or acupuncture treatment. On one hand, only six significantly changed metabolites were determined after drug treatment, five of which including inosine, monopalmitin, urate, propionylcarnitine, and nicotinamide were all increased and involved in inflammatory responses. On the other hand, merely four metabolites including alanine, serine, and homoserine were found to be significantly different. Further pathway analysis of those six and four significantly changed metabolites revealed that only one pathway, aminoacyl-tRNA biosynthesis was significantly influenced in acupuncture-treated patients, which were highly associated with the cause of the disease. The results here indicated acupuncture treatment may address the cause rather than the symptoms for dry eye disease, displaying partially better compared with drug treatment. CONCLUSION: Collectively, this work extended our understanding on the key regulatory elements or pathways involved in the potential mechanisms of available effective treatments, and would be useful for providing novel potential targets and therapeutic strategies for DED.

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Lipid Annotation by Combination of UHPLC-HRMS (MS), Molecular Networking, and Retention Time Prediction: Application to a Lipidomic Study of In Vitro Models of Dry Eye Disease

Metabolites ◽

10.3390/metabo10060225 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 10 (6) ◽

pp. 225 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Romain Magny ◽

Anne Regazzetti ◽

Karima Kessal ◽

Gregory Genta-Jouve ◽

Christophe Baudouin ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Dry Eye ◽

Retention Time ◽

Inflammatory Responses ◽

In Vitro Models ◽

Dry Eye Disease ◽

Molecular Networks ◽

Chromatographic Behavior ◽

Eye Disease ◽

Molecular Networking

Annotation of lipids in untargeted lipidomic analysis remains challenging and a systematic approach needs to be developed to organize important datasets with the help of bioinformatic tools. For this purpose, we combined tandem mass spectrometry-based molecular networking with retention time (tR) prediction to annotate phospholipid and sphingolipid species. Sixty-five standard compounds were used to establish the fragmentation rules of each lipid class studied and to define the parameters governing their chromatographic behavior. Molecular networks (MNs) were generated through the GNPS platform using a lipid standards mixture and applied to lipidomic study of an in vitro model of dry eye disease, i.e., human corneal epithelial (HCE) cells exposed to hyperosmolarity (HO). These MNs led to the annotation of more than 150 unique phospholipid and sphingolipid species in the HCE cells. This annotation was reinforced by comparing theoretical to experimental tR values. This lipidomic study highlighted changes in 54 lipids following HO exposure of corneal cells, some of them being involved in inflammatory responses. The MN approach coupled to tR prediction thus appears as a suitable and robust tool for the discovery of lipids involved in relevant biological processes.

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Intranasal Neurostimulation for Dry Eye: First Impressions

Current Trends in Ophthalmology ◽

10.18314/ctoy.v2i1.1638 ◽

2019 ◽

pp. 123-125

Author(s):

William J Faulkner ◽

Stephanie Granat

Keyword(s):

Dry Eye ◽

New Technology ◽

Insurance Coverage ◽

Dry Eye Disease ◽

First Impressions ◽

Eye Disease ◽

Initial Exposure ◽

Average Rating ◽

Favorable Impression ◽

Effective Treatments

Although many new and helpful treatments for dry eye disease have been developed, there remains a subset of patients who continue to look for easier or more effective treatments. A consecutive group of 28 moderate to severe dissatisfied dry eye patients in one practice were surveyed after initial exposure to and trial with a novel intranasal neurostimulation technique. Results were overall positive. Seventy-one percent had a favorable impression. Average rating on 1-10 scale was 6.92. Twenty-five percent purchased the device immediately despite no insurance coverage. Of those who did not buy, 100% said they would consider purchase later. Time and experience will show how valuable this new technology is and how it fits in the dry eye armamentarium.

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