Values of integration between lipidomics and clinical phenomes in patients with acute lung infection, pulmonary embolism, or acute exacerbation of chronic pulmonary diseases: a preliminary study

BACKGROUND: The morbidity and mortality of patients with critical illnesses remain high in pulmonary critical care units and a poorly understood correlation between alterations of lipid elements and clinical phenomes remain unelucidated. METHODS: In the present study, we investigated plasma lipidomic profiles of 30 patients with severe acute pneumonia (SAP), acute pulmonary embolism (APE), and acute exacerbation of chronic pulmonary diseases (AECOPD) or 15 healthy with the aim to compare disease specificity of lipidomic patterns. We defined the specificity of lipidomic profiles in SAP by comparing it to both APE and AECOPD. Analysis of the correlation between altered lipid elements and clinical phenotypes using the lipid-QTL model was then carried out. RESULTS: We integrated lipidomic profiles with clinical phenomes measured by score values from the digital evaluation score system and found phenome-associated lipid elements to identify disease-specific lipidomic profiling. The present study demonstrates that lipidomic profiles of patients with acute lung diseases are different from healthy lungs, and there are also disease-specific portions of lipidomics among SAP, APE, or AECOPD. The comprehensive profiles of clinical phenomes or lipidomics are valuable in describing the disease specificity of patient phenomes and lipid elements. The combination of clinical phenomes with lipidomic profiles provides more detailed disease-specific information on panels of lipid elements When compared to the use of each separately. CONCLUSIONS: Integrating biological functions with disease specificity, we believe that clinical lipidomics may create a new alternative way to understand lipid-associated mechanisms of critical illnesses and develop a new category of disease-specific biomarkers and therapeutic targets. ELECTRONIC SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL: The online version of this article (10.1186/s12967-019-1898-z) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.