UPLC-MS-Based Serum Metabolic Profiling Reveals Potential Biomarkers for Predicting Propofol Responsiveness in Females

Although
previous studies have shown that certain factors interfere
with the sensitivity of propofol, the mechanisms for interindividual
variability in response to propofol remain unclear. This study aimed
to screen the metabolites to predict patients’ sensitivity
to propofol and to identify metabolic pathways to explore possible
mechanisms associated with propofol resistance. Sera from 40 female
patients undergoing elective hysteroscopic surgery in a prospective
cohort propofol study were obtained before the administration of propofol.
The patients’ responsiveness to propofol was differentiated
based on propofol effect-site concentration. Serum samples from two
sets, a discovery set (n = 24) and an independent
validation set (n = 16), were analyzed using ultraperformance
liquid chromatography coupled with mass spectrometry based untargeted
metabolomics. In the discovery set, 494 differential metabolites were
screened out, and then 391 potential candidate biomarkers with the
area under receiver operating characteristic curve >0.80 were selected.
Pathway analysis showed that the pathway of glycerophospholipid metabolism
was the most influential pathway. In the independent validation set,
six potential biomarkers enabled the discrimination of poor responders
from good and intermediate responders, which might be applied to predict
propofol sensitivity. The mass spectrometry data are available via
MetaboLights (http://www.ebi.ac.uk/metabolights/login) with the identifier
MTBLS2311.