Identification of intra- and inter-individual metabolite variation in plasma metabolite profiles of cats and dogs

• Published in: British journal of nutrition 2011-10, Vol.106 (S1), p.S146-S149
• Main Authors: Colyer, Alison, Gilham, Matthew S., Kamlage, Beate, Rein, Dietrich, Allaway, David
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Animal Feed - analysis; Animal Nutritional Physiological Phenomena; Animal species; Animals; Biological and medical sciences; Blood tests; Body weight; Cats; Cats - blood; Cats - metabolism; Diet - veterinary; Dogs; Dogs - blood; Dogs - metabolism; Feeding. Feeding behavior; Female; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Gas chromatography; Liquid chromatography; Mass spectrometry; Metabolism; Metabolites; Poster Presentations; Principal Component Analysis; Species Specificity; Vertebrates: anatomy and physiology, studies on body, several organs or systems
• ISSN: 0007-1145; 1475-2662
• DOI: 10.1017/S000711451100081X

The purpose of the present study was first to identify drivers of variance in plasma metabolite profiles of cats and dogs that may affect the interpretation of nutritional metabolomic studies. A total of fourteen cats and fourteen dogs housed in environmentally enriched accommodation were fed a single batch of diet to maintain body weight. Fasting blood samples were taken on days 14, 16 and 18 of the study. Gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (GC–MS), liquid chromatography (LC)–MS/MS and solid-phase extraction–LC–MS/MS analyses were used for metabolite profiling. Principal component (PC) analysis that indicated 31 and 27 % of the variance was explained in PC1 and PC2 for cats and dogs, respectively, with most individuals occupying a unique space. As the individual was a major driver of variance in the plasma metabolome, the second objective was to identify metabolites associated with the individual variation observed. The proportion of intra- and inter-individual variance was calculated for 109 cat and 101 dog metabolites with a low intra-individual variance (sd 75 % inter-individual variance were common to both species and to similar areas of metabolism. In summary, the individual is an important driver of variance in the fasted plasma metabolome, and specific metabolites and areas of metabolism may be differentially regulated by individuals in two companion animal species.