An NMR-Based Metabolomics Study of Kidneys from Mice Exposed to Ionizing Radiation

Abstract

The biological effects of ionizing radiation on organisms have emerged as a hot topic for research. In this study, the changes of metabolic profile in the kidney tissues extracts from C57BL/6J mice with or without exposing to whole body gamma or proton radiation were investigated with the liquid state proton nuclear magnetic resonance (1H NMR)-based metabolomics approach. The results demonstrated that the exposed group had significantly different kidney metabolic profiles from the non-exposed group, involving mainly six metabolites, including 2-aminobutyrate, 3-hydroxybutyrate, homoserine, 1,3-diaminopropane, β-alanine and ascorbate. These metabolites could be used as potential biomarkers for the biological effects of high-dose ionizing radiation on kidney metabolism.

Keywords

• proton nuclear magnetic resonance (1H NMR)
• metabolomics
• ionizing radiation
• kidney
• multivariate data analysis