In-Depth Characterization and Validation of Human Urine Metabolomes Reveal Novel Metabolic Signatures of Lower Urinary Tract Symptoms.

Journal Article (Journal Article)

Lower urinary tract symptoms (LUTS) are a range of irritative or obstructive symptoms that commonly afflict aging population. The diagnosis is mostly based on patient-reported symptoms, and current medication often fails to completely eliminate these symptoms. There is a pressing need for objective non-invasive approaches to measure symptoms and understand disease mechanisms. We developed an in-depth workflow combining urine metabolomics analysis and machine learning bioinformatics to characterize metabolic alterations and support objective diagnosis of LUTS. Machine learning feature selection and statistical tests were combined to identify candidate biomarkers, which were statistically validated with leave-one-patient-out cross-validation and absolutely quantified by selected reaction monitoring assay. Receiver operating characteristic analysis showed highly-accurate prediction power of candidate biomarkers to stratify patients into disease or non-diseased categories. The key metabolites and pathways may be possibly correlated with smooth muscle tone changes, increased collagen content, and inflammation, which have been identified as potential contributors to urinary dysfunction in humans and rodents. Periurethral tissue staining revealed a significant increase in collagen content and tissue stiffness in men with LUTS. Together, our study provides the first characterization and validation of LUTS urinary metabolites and pathways to support the future development of a urine-based diagnostic test for LUTS.

Full Text

Duke Authors

Cited Authors

  • Hao, L; Greer, T; Page, D; Shi, Y; Vezina, CM; Macoska, JA; Marker, PC; Bjorling, DE; Bushman, W; Ricke, WA; Li, L

Published Date

  • August 9, 2016

Published In

Volume / Issue

  • 6 /

Start / End Page

  • 30869 -

PubMed ID

  • 27502322

Pubmed Central ID

  • PMC4977550

Electronic International Standard Serial Number (EISSN)

  • 2045-2322

Digital Object Identifier (DOI)

  • 10.1038/srep30869

Language

  • eng

Conference Location

  • England