Introduction: Early diagnosis and treatment for thermal injury with septic complications continue to be a serious clinical problem. In this study, plasma biomarkers of rats in the burn and/or septic models were investigated with a metabolomic method.
Methods: Rat plasma samples were analyzed by ultra-performance liquid chromatography-quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometry (UPLC-Q-TOF-MS). Multivariate analysis, the principal components analysis (PCA), was used to validate metabolic changes. In addition, another multivariate method, the orthogonal partial least-squares analysis (OPLS), was used to profile potential biomarkers in models.
Results: Nine characteristic metabolites, including hypoxanthine, indoxyl sufate, glucuronic acid, gluconic acid, proline, uracil, nitrotyrosine, uric acid, and trihydroxy cholanoic acid were identified in models of thermal injury and/or sepsis.
Conclusion: These biomarkers were mainly involved in oxidative stress and tissue damage, and might supply evidence for distinguishing burned septic patients from non-septic ones.
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