Sportomics method to assess acute phase proteins in Olympic level athletes using dried blood spots and multiplex assay

Abstract Sportomics is a subject-centered holistic method similar to metabolomics focusing on sports as the metabolic challenge. Dried blood spot is emerging as a technique due to its simplicity and reproducibility. In addition, mass spectrometry and integrative computational biology enhance our ability to understand exercise-induced modifications. We studied inflammatory blood proteins (Alpha-1-acid glycoprotein—A1AG1; Albumin; Cystatin C; C-reactive protein—CRP; Hemoglobin—HBA; Haptoglobin—HPT; Insulin-like growth factor 1; Lipopolysaccharide binding protein—LBP; Mannose-binding lectin—MBL2; Myeloperoxidase—PERM and Serum amyloid A1—SAA1), in 687 samples from 97 World-class and Olympic athletes across 16 sports in nine states. Data were analyzed with Spearman's rank-order correlation. Major correlations with CRP, LBP; MBL2; A1AG1, and SAA1 were found. The pairs CRP-SAA1 and CRP-LBP appeared with a robust positive correlation. Other pairs, LBP-SAA1; A1AG1-CRP; A1AG1-SAA1; A1AG1-MBL, and A1AG1-LBP, showed a broader correlation across the sports. The protein–protein interaction map revealed 1500 interactions with 44 core proteins, 30 of them linked to immune system processing. We propose that the inflammation follow-up in exercise can provide knowledge for internal cargo management in training, competition, recovery, doping control, and a deeper understanding of health and disease.