AUTHOR=Varshavi Dorsa , Scott Flora H. , Varshavi Dorna , Veeravalli Sunil , Phillips Ian R. , Veselkov Kirill , Strittmatter Nicole , Takats Zoltan , Shephard Elizabeth A. , Everett Jeremy R. 

TITLE=Metabolic Biomarkers of Ageing in C57BL/6J Wild-Type and Flavin-Containing Monooxygenase 5 (FMO5)-Knockout Mice

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Molecular Biosciences

VOLUME=5

YEAR=2018

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/molecular-biosciences/articles/10.3389/fmolb.2018.00028

DOI=10.3389/fmolb.2018.00028

ISSN=2296-889X

ABSTRACT=<p>It was recently demonstrated in mice that knockout of the flavin-containing monooxygenase 5 gene, <italic>Fmo5</italic>, slows metabolic ageing via pleiotropic effects. We have now used an NMR-based metabonomics approach to study the effects of ageing directly on the metabolic profiles of urine and plasma from male, wild-type C57BL/6J and <italic>Fmo5</italic><sup>−/−</sup> (FMO5 KO) mice back-crossed onto the C57BL/6J background. The aim of this study was to identify metabolic signatures that are associated with ageing in both these mouse lines and to characterize the age-related differences in the metabolite profiles between the FMO5 KO mice and their wild-type counterparts at equivalent time points. We identified a range of age-related biomarkers in both urine and plasma. Some metabolites, including urinary 6-hydroxy-6-methylheptan-3-one (6H6MH3O), a mouse sex pheromone, showed similar patterns of changes with age, regardless of genetic background. Others, however, were altered only in the FMO5 KO, or only in the wild-type mice, indicating the impact of genetic modifications on mouse ageing. Elevated concentrations of urinary taurine represent a distinctive, ageing-related change observed only in wild-type mice.</p>