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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Cell. Infect. Microbiol.
Sec. Clinical Infectious Diseases
Volume 15 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fcimb.2025.1537726
This article is part of the Research Topic Genetic and Molecular Markers in Viral Infections View all articles
Plasma nontargeted metabolomics study of H1N1 and H3N2 influenza in children
Provisionally accepted
Yaping Li 1
Jiaxin Li 2
Ting Li 1 Chenrui Liu 1 Jiayi Du 3
Yuxin Li 2 Yuan Chen 2 Yufeng Zhang 2
Xiaoyan Wang 2
Xinyu Wang 1
晓黎 贾 1*
Huiling Deng 2,4*- 1 The Second Affiliated Hospital of Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an, China
- 2 Xi’an Children’s Hospital, Xi'an, Shaanxi Province, China
- 3 School of Public Health, Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut, United States
- 4 Xi'an Central Hospital, Xi'an, Shaanxi Province, China
Background: This study used a nontargeted metabolomic approach to investigate small molecular metabolites in the peripheral blood of pediatric patients with influenza. By comparing these metabolites with those in healthy children, potential biomarkers for the early detection and diagnosis of influenza were explored.Methods: Plasma samples were collected from 47 children with H1N1 influenza, 40 with H3N2 influenza, and 40 healthy controls at Xi’an Children’s Hospital, Xi’an Jiaotong University Second Affiliated Hospital, and Xi’an Central Hospital between May and September 2023. Nontargeted metabolomic detection and analysis were performed.Results: In the H1N1 group, 14 glycerophospholipid metabolites were significantly altered compared to controls, with 11 (78.5%) markedly downregulated. These downregulated metabolites showed negative correlations with inflammatory markers, including white blood cell (WBC) count, neutrophils, C-reactive protein (CRP), and Procalcitonin (PCT), whereas the upregulated metabolite PC(P-18:1(9Z)/16:0) showed positive correlations with validation markers. In the H3N2 group, 12 glycerophospholipid metabolites were significantly altered, with 9 being downregulated. The downregulated LysoPC(20:0/0:0) showed a positive correlation with alanine aminotransferase (ALT) but a negative correlation with WBC count, while the upregulated metabolite LysoPA(18:1(9Z)0:0) correlated positively with ALT, aspartate aminotransferase (AST), and lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) .Conclusions: Distinct metabolomic profiles were identified in pediatric H1N1 and H3N2 influenza cases compared to healthy controls. Specific glycerophospholipid metabolites were closely associated with inflammatory and liver function markers, highlighting their potential as biomarkers for disease monitoring and early diagnosis.
Keywords: Influenza Virus, Plasma metabolomics, differentially abundant metabolites, biomarker, early diagnosis
Received: 01 Dec 2024; Accepted: 11 Feb 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Li, Li, Li, Liu, Du, Li, Chen, Zhang, Wang, Wang, 贾 and Deng. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence:
晓黎 贾, The Second Affiliated Hospital of Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an, China
Huiling Deng, Xi’an Children’s Hospital, Xi'an, 710003, Shaanxi Province, China
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