International Journal of Molecular Sciences (Feb 2023)

Seasonal Changes in Serum Metabolites in Multiple Sclerosis Relapse

  • Ekaterina Martynova,
  • Timur Khaibullin,
  • Ilnur Salafutdinov,
  • Maria Markelova,
  • Alexander Laikov,
  • Leonid Lopukhov,
  • Rongzeng Liu,
  • Kritika Sahay,
  • Mehendi Goyal,
  • Manoj Baranwal,
  • Albert A Rizvanov,
  • Svetlana Khaiboullina

DOI
https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms24043542
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 24, no. 4
p. 3542

Abstract

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Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a debilitating chronic disease of unknown etiology. There are limited treatment options due to an incomplete understanding of disease pathology. The disease is shown to have seasonal exacerbation of clinical symptoms. The mechanisms of such seasonal worsening of symptoms remains unknown. In this study, we applied targeted metabolomics analysis of serum samples using LC-MC/MC to determine seasonal changes in metabolites throughout the four seasons. We also analyzed seasonal serum cytokine alterations in patients with relapsed MS. For the first time, we can demonstrate seasonal changes in various metabolites in MS compared to the control. More metabolites were affected in MS in the fall season followed by spring, while summer MS was characterized by the smallest number of affected metabolites. Ceramides were activated in all seasons, suggesting their central role in the disease pathogenesis. Substantial changes in glucose metabolite levels were found in MS, indicating a potential shift to glycolysis. An increased serum level of quinolinic acid was demonstrated in winter MS. Histidine pathways were affected, suggesting their role in relapse of MS in the spring and fall. We also found that spring and fall seasons had a higher number of overlapping metabolites affected in MS. This could be explained by patients having a relapse of symptoms during these two seasons.

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