NMR- and GC/MS-based metabolomics of sulfur mustard exposed individuals: a pilot study

Abstract

Sulfur mustard (SM) is a potent alkylating agent and its effects on cells and tissues are varied and complex. Due to limitations in the diagnostics of sulfur mustard exposed individuals (SMEIs) by noninvasive approaches, there is a great necessity to develop novel techniques and biomarkers for this condition. We present here the first nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC/MS) metabolic profiling of serum from and healthy controls to identify novel biomarkers in blood serum for better diagnostics. Of note, SMEIs were exposed to SM 30 years ago and that differences between two groups could still be found. Pathways in which differences between SMEIs and healthy controls are observed are related to lipid metabolism, ketogenesis, tricarboxylic acid (TCA) cycle and amino acid metabolism.

Keywords:

• Gas chromatography–mass spectrometry
• human serum
• metabolomics
• nuclear magnetic resonance
• sulfur mustard

Acknowledgments

The authors thank the individuals participating in this study for their willingness to contribute to the advancement of science. We are also thankful to the staff of Sasan Hospital, Tehran, Iran; Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran, and Bonyad Shahid specially Ms. Pashang for their assistance. We are also grateful to Dr. Robert Davidson for sending their software, namely ProMetab. We also gratefully acknowledge financial support from Iran National Science Foundation (INSF).

Disclosure statement

The authors report no conflics of interest. The authors alone are responsible for the content and writing of this article.