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Blood Volatile Organic Compounds as Potential Biomarkers for Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis: an Animal Study in the SOD1 G93A Mouse

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Abstract

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a rapid progressive motor neuron disease. Currently, there are no specific or reliable biomarkers for the diagnosis of this disease, and there are no effective medical treatments. The early diagnosis and treatment of this disease has the potential to prolong the survival of ALS patients, but typically, approximately 1 year passes between the onset of symptoms and the diagnosis of this disease. Therefore, there is an urgent need to find specific biomarkers to enable early diagnosis and therapeutic intervention in this disease. Analyzing the volatile organic compounds (VOCs) present in the blood and exhaled breath is a useful and convenient approach for investigating potential biomarkers. In this study, we examined the VOCs present in blood samples from copper zinc superoxide dismutase 1 (SOD1) glycine to alanine mutation at position 93 (G93A) mice to determine whether a specific biomarker pattern exists in these transgenic mice. Blood samples from ALS mice and their age-matched littermates were analyzed using gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. A total of 12 independent compounds associated with oxidative stress were identified at the early stage of disease. The data show that there is a specific pattern of blood VOCs in ALS mice that could potentially be used as biomarkers that could improve the diagnosis of this disease. Furthermore, these compounds could also potentially be used to monitor the response to neuroprotective agents and to help us better understand the underlying mechanisms of ALS.

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Acknowledgments

This research was supported by grants from the Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 81171186), the Health Department Project of Heilongjiang Province (No. 2013017), the China Postdoctoral Science Foundation (No. 2013 M531069), the Foundation of Heilongjiang Educational Committee (No. 12531245), and the Doctoral Fund of the First Affiliated Hospital of Harbin Medical University (No. 2012B006).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Neurology, the First Affiliated Hospital of Harbin Medical University, Harbin, 150001, Heilongjiang, China

    Hongquan Jiang, Xiang Yin & Honglin Feng

  2. Department of Anesthesiology, the First Affiliated Hospital of Harbin Medical University, Harbin, 150001, Heilongjiang, China

    Changsong Wang, Chunjie Chi, Lei Guo & Enyou Li

  3. Department of Neurology, the Affiliated Hospital of Weifang Medical University, Weifang, 150001, Shandong, China

    Ming Ren

  4. Department of Biostatistics, School of Public Health, Harbin Medical University, Harbin, 150086, Heilongjiang, China

    Chaofu Ke

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  1. Hongquan Jiang
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  2. Changsong Wang
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  3. Ming Ren
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  4. Xiang Yin
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  5. Chunjie Chi
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  6. Lei Guo
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  7. Chaofu Ke
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  8. Honglin Feng
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  9. Enyou Li
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Correspondence to Honglin Feng or Enyou Li.

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Dr. Hongquan Jiang and Dr. Changsong Wang are co-first authors and contributed equally to this work.

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Jiang, H., Wang, C., Ren, M. et al. Blood Volatile Organic Compounds as Potential Biomarkers for Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis: an Animal Study in the SOD1 G93A Mouse. J Mol Neurosci 55, 167–173 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12031-014-0297-4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12031-014-0297-4

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