Oxidised Apolipoprotein Peptidome Characterises Metabolic Dysfunction-Associated Steatotic Liver Disease
Abstract
BACKGROUND: Metabolic Dysfunction-Associated Steatotic Liver Disease (MASLD) encompasses a spectrum of histological conditions ranging from simple steatosis to fibrosing steatohepatitis, and is a risk factor for cardiovascular diseases (CVD). While oxidised apolipoproteins A and B have been linked to obesity and CVD, the association between other oxidised apolipoproteins and MASLD is yet to be established. To fill this gap, we characterised the circulating serum peptidome of patients with MASLD.
METHODS: We studied the serum of 87 biopsy-confirmed MASLD patients and 20 age- and sex-matched control (CTRL) subjects. We first employed an untargeted LC-MS/MS peptidomics approach (9 CTRL, 32 MASLD) to identify key hits differentially modulated, and subsequently validated the most relevant findings through targeted peptidomics in an enlarged study population (87 MASLD and 20 CTRL).
RESULTS: Untargeted serum peptidomics identified several oxidised apolipoprotein peptide fragments, including ApoE and ApoC-III, significantly upregulated in MASLD compared to CTRL. Specifically focusing on the oxidative status of intact ApoC-III, studied through its major glycoforms (ApoC-III0, ApoC-IIIi and ApoC-IIIii), we observed a marked reduction in non-oxidised forms of these circulating peptides alongside substantially increased levels of their oxidised proteoforms in MASLD versus controls (but not within the disease stages). Oxidised ApoE and ApoC-III peptide fragments were also significantly…
How strong is the evidence?
Evidence Hub reads this as a case-control, done in people. Its evidence level is 4 of 5 (Low · observational). Observational designs can show an association but not prove cause.
Read the paper
Related studies
- In silico toxicology protocols
- QM7-X, a comprehensive dataset of quantum-mechanical properties spanning the chemical space of small organic molecules
- Quantum Informed Machine-Learning Potentials for Molecular Dynamics Simulations of CO2's Chemisorption and Diffusion in Mg-MOF-74
- In-silico strategies in nano-drug design: Bridging nanomaterials and pharmacological applications
- mRNA codon optimization with quantum computers
- The computational power of the human brain
Go deeper in Evidence Hub
Evidence Hub adds a study data sheet (design, sample size, evidence level, key numbers), an AI summary and a chat grounded in the paper's text.