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Human African trypanosomiasis (HAT) is transmitted by tsetse flies and, if untreated, is fatal. Treatment depends on infection stage, and early diagnosis is crucial for effective disease management. The systemic host biochemical changes induced by HAT that enable biomarker discovery or relate to therapeutic outcome are largely unknown. We have characterized the multivariate temporal responses of mice to Trypanosoma brucei brucei infection, using [sup.1]H nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopic metabolic phenotyping of urine and plasma. Marked alterations in plasma metabolic profiles were detected already 1 day postinfection. Elevated plasma concentrations of lactate, branched chain amino acids, and acetylglycoprotein fragments were noted. T. brucei brucei-infected mice also had an imbalance of plasma alanine and valine, consistent with differential gluconeogenesis (parasite) ketogenesis (host) pathway counterflux, involving stimulated host glycolysis, ketogenesis, and enhanced lipid oxidation in the host. Histopathologic evidence of T. brucei brucei-induced extramedullary hepatic hemopoiesis, renal interstitial nephritis, and a provoked inflammatory response was also noted. Metabolic disturbance of gut microbiotal activity was associated with infection, as indicated by changes in the urinary concentrations of the microbial co-metabolites, including hippurate. Concluding, parasite infection results in multiple systemic biochemical effects in the host and disturbance of the symbiotic gut microbial metabolic interactions. Investigation of these transgenomic metabolic alterations may underpin the development of new diagnostic criteria and metrics of therapeutic efficacy. diagnosis | metabonomics | NMR spectroscopy | trypanosomiasis

We present a novel application of the heteronuclear statistical total correlation spectroscopy (HET-STOCSY) approach utilizing statistical correlation between one-dimensional [sup.19]F/[sup.1]H NMR spectroscopic data sets collected in parallel to study drug metabolism. Parallel one-dimensional (1D) 800 MHz [sup.1]H and 753 MHz [sup.19]F{[sup.1]H} spectra (n = 21) were obtained on urine samples collected from volunteers (n = 6) at various intervals up to 24 h after oral dosing with 500 mg of flucloxacillin. A variety of statistical relationships between and within the spectroscopic datasets were explored without significant loss of the typically high 1 D spectral resolution, generating [sup.1]H-[sup.1]H STOCSY plots, and novel [sup.19]F-[sup.1]H HET-STOCSY, [sup.19]F-[sup.19]F STOCSY, and [sup.19]F-edited [sup.1]H-[sup.1]H STOCSY (X-STOCSY) spectroscopic maps, with a resolution of ~0.8 Hz/pt for both nuclei. The efficient statistical editing provided by these methods readily allowed the collection of drug metabolic data and assisted structure elucidation. This approach is of general applicability for studying the metabolism of other fluorine-containing drugs, including important anticancer agents such as 5-fluorouracil and flutamide, and is extendable to any drug metabolism study where there is a spin-active X-nucleus (e.g., [sup.13]C, [sup.15]N, [sup.31]P) label present.

Author(s): Bassirou Bonfoh, Jasmina Saric, Jürg UtzingerAuthor Affiliations:Research hotspots in Côte d'Ivoire The top-ranking institutions for research productivity in 2012-16 in Côte d'Ivoire were its two largest national universities: Félix [...]