| Abstract: | The aim of this study was to search for lipid signatures in blood plasma from cystic fibrosis (CF) patients using a novel MALDI-TOF-ClinProTools™ strategy, initially developed for protein analysis, and thin layer chromatography coupled to MALDI-TOF (TLC-MALDI). Samples from 33 CF patients and 18 healthy children were subjected to organic extraction and column chromatography separation of lipid classes. Extracts were analyzed by MALDI-TOF, ion signatures were compared by the ClinProTools™ software and by parallel statistical analyses. Relevant peaks were identified by LC-MSn. The ensemble of analyses provided 11 and 4 peaks differentially displayed in CF vs healthy and in mild vs severe patients respectively. Ten ions were significantly decreased in all patients, corresponding to 4 lysophosphatidylcholine (18∶0, 18∶2, 20∶3, and 20∶5) and 6 phosphatidylcholine (36∶5, O-38∶0, 38∶4, 38∶5, 38∶6, and P-40∶1) species. One sphingolipid, SM(d18∶0), was significantly increased in all patients. Four PC forms (36∶3, 36∶5, 38∶5, and 38∶6) were consistently downregulated in severe vs mild patients. These observations were confirmed by TLC-MALDI. These results suggest that plasma phospholipid signatures may be able to discriminate mild and severe forms of CF, and show for the first time MALDI-TOF-ClinProTools™ as a suitable methodology for the search of lipid markers in CF. |
