Profiling metabolites and lipoproteins in COMETA, an Italian cohort of COVID-19 patients

• Published in: PLoS pathogens 2022-04, Vol.18 (4)
• Main Authors: Veronica Ghini, Gaia Meoni, Lorenzo Pelagatti, Tommaso Celli, Francesca Veneziani, Fabrizia Petrucci, Vieri Vannucchi, Laura Bertini, Claudio Luchinat, Giancarlo Landini, Paola Turano
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• ISSN: 1553-7366; 1553-7374

Metabolomics and lipidomics have been used in several studies to define the biochemical alterations induced by COVID-19 in comparison with healthy controls. Those studies highlighted the presence of a strong signature, attributable to both metabolites and lipoproteins/lipids. Here, 1H NMR spectra were acquired on EDTA-plasma from three groups of subjects: i) hospitalized COVID-19 positive patients (≤21 days from the first positive nasopharyngeal swab); ii) hospitalized COVID-19 positive patients (>21 days from the first positive nasopharyngeal swab); iii) subjects after 2–6 months from SARS-CoV-2 eradication. A Random Forest model built using the EDTA-plasma spectra of COVID-19 patients ≤21 days and Post COVID-19 subjects, provided a high discrimination accuracy (93.6%), indicating both the presence of a strong fingerprint of the acute infection and the substantial metabolic healing of Post COVID-19 subjects. The differences originate from significant alterations in the concentrations of 16 metabolites and 74 lipoprotein components. The model was then used to predict the spectra of COVID-19>21 days subjects. In this group, the metabolite levels are closer to those of the Post COVID-19 subjects than to those of the COVID-19≤21 days; the opposite occurs for the lipoproteins. Within the acute phase patients, characteristic trends in metabolite levels are observed as a function of the disease severity. The metabolites found altered in COVID-19≤21 days patients with respect to Post COVID-19 individuals overlap with acute infection biomarkers identified previously in comparison with healthy subjects. Along the trajectory towards healing, the metabolome reverts back to the “healthy” state faster than the lipoproteome. Author summary 1H NMR spectra of EDTA-plasma from 246 COVID-19-positive subjects in the acute phase of infection were compared to those of 95 COVID-19-recovered subjects. The two cohorts are largely different (discrimination accuracy > 93%) due to a pool of 16 metabolites and 74 lipoprotein parameters significantly up- or down-regulated in the patients and within the healthy range in the recovered subjects. In 28 post-acute COVID-19-positive patients, the metabolites levels are reverted back to normality whereas the lipoprotein parameters are still altered. Therefore, the metabolite biomarkers might be used as the timeliest sign of the individual response to treatment or spontaneous healing.