Targeted lipidomics reveals phospholipids and lysophospholipids as biomarkers for evaluating community-acquired pneumonia

BACKGROUND: Community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) is often accompanied by changes in lipid metabolism. This study aimed to examine the changes in serum phospholipids (PLs) that may be useful for early disease stratification and as potential therapeutic targets in patients with CAP. METHODS: Serum samples from 58 patients hospitalized with CAP and 11 control samples were collected during admission between January 2017 and October 2018. Targeted lipidomic analysis was used to determine the concentrations of phosphatidylcholine (PC), lysophosphatidylcholine (LPC), phosphatidylethanolamine (PE), and lysophosphatidylethanolamine (LPE). The Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) database was used to evaluate the gene expression levels of key enzymes in the Lands cycle, and quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR) was used for further verification. RESULTS: A significant decrease in LPC levels and an increase in PE levels, PC/LPC and PE/LPE ratios were observed in patients with CAP (P<0.05). The area under the curve (AUC) of PE serum concentrations combined with CURB-65 scores (confusion, uremia, respiratory rate, blood pressure, and age ≥65 years) was 0.848 for discriminating disease severity, which was significantly higher than the discriminating disease severity of CURB-65 (P<0.05). The efficiency of predicting 30-day mortality using PC, LPC, or PC/LPC ratio combined with CURB-65 scores (AUC =0.811, AUC =0.854, AUC =0.838, respectively) was better than CURB-65 alone (P<0.05). Gene expression analysis revealed the upregulation of LPC acyltransferase 2. CONCLUSIONS: LPC or PE serum levels as well as PC/LPC ratios combined with CURB-65 are effective biomarkers for predicting the disease severity and 30-day mortality of patients with CAP. Further investigations of phospholipid metabolism will improve our understanding and treatment of CAP.