LC-MS/MS lipidomics data: Enhancing the Accuracy of Surgical Debridement Following Burns Trauma via Application of Rapid Evaporative Ionisation-Mass Spectrometry (REIMS)

LC-MS/MS lipidomics data from the manuscript titled: Enhancing the Accuracy of Surgical Debridement Following Burns Trauma via Application of Rapid Evaporative Ionisation-Mass Spectrometry (REIMS)

Publication Abstract:
Background
Surgical debridement is a necessary procedure for burn patients that require the removal of eschar. The extent of debridement is currently guided by clinical judgement, with excess debridement of healthy tissue potentially leading to excessive scar, or inadequate debridement increasing risk of infection. Thus, an objective real-time measure to facilitate accurate debridement could support clinical judgement and improve this surgical procedure. This study was designed to investigate the potential use of Rapid evaporative ionisation mass spectrometry (REIMS) as a tool to support data-driven objective tissue debridement.

Methods
Data were acquired using a multi-platform approach that consisted of both Rapid Evaporative Ionisation Mass Spectrometry (REIMS) performed on intact skin, and comprehensive liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) lipidomics performed on homogenised skin tissue extracts. Data were analysed using principal components analysis (PCA) and multivariate orthogonal projections to latent squares discriminant analysis (OPLS-DA) and logistic regression to determine the predictability of the models.

Results
PCA and OPLS-DA models of the REIMS and LC-MS/MS lipidomics data reported separation of debrided and healthy tissue. Molecular fingerprints generated from REIMS analysis of healthy skin tissue revealed a high degree of heterogeneity, however, intra-individual variance was smaller than inter-individual variance. Both platforms indicated high levels of skin classification accuracy. In addition, OPLS-DA of the LC-MS/MS lipidomic data revealed significant differences in specific lipid classes between healthy control and debrided skin samples; including lower free fatty acids (FFA), monoacylglycerols (MAG), lysophosphatidylglycerol (LPG) and lysophosphatidylethanolamines (LPE) in debrided tissue and higher lactosylceramides (LCER) and cholesterol esters (CE) compared to healthy control tissue.

Conclusions
Having established the heterogeneity in the biochemical composition of healthy skin using REIMS and LC-MS/MS, our data show that REIMS has the potential to distinguish between debrided and healthy skin tissue samples. This pilot study suggests that REIMS may be an effective tool to support accurate tissue debridement during burn surgery.