Abouelela MB, El-Taher EM, Shawky EM, Baky MH.

Sci Rep

PMID:42000791

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Lavender (Lavandula L. spp., Lamiaceae) essential oil is widely valued for its therapeutic effects and aromatic properties. Owing to the growing global demand for this essential oil, the implementation of standardized quality assessment protocol is essential to ensure its quality. This study aimed to perform a comparative metabolite profiling of four commercially available lavender oils in the Egyptian market using Gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) analysis combined with chemometric analysis. A total of 54 volatile metabolites were identified belonging to 8 chemical classes including alcohols, aldehyde/ketone, esters, fatty acids/esters, oxides, aliphatic, monoterpene, and sesquiterpene hydrocarbons. Alcohols and esters represented the abundant classes accounting for 24.7-42.6% and 11.4-46.1%, respectively, of the total volatile composition. Linalool and linalyl acetate, the principal quality markers of lavender oil were comparatively higher in L-Sha (33.61, and 24.72%) and L-Rag (46.09, and 32.65%), indicating their higher quality among the examined samples. In contrast, certain samples exhibited unusually high levels of non-characteristic fatty acid esters and synthetic glycols, suggesting possible dilution or adulteration with carrier oils or formulation additives. Multivariate analysis further demonstrated clear compositional discrimination among samples, confirming substantial variability in the quality of commercial lavender oils available in the Egyptian market. These findings highlight the importance of GC-MS profiling combined with chemometric analysis as a robust tool for authenticity verification, quality control, and detection of potential adulteration in commercial essential oil products.

Lee CC, Hsieh YJ, Chang CH, Yu JS, Chen KH, Hung CC, Chen SW, Tu WJ, Chen YT.

Metabolomics

PMID:41999450

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Introduction Cardiac surgery-associated acute kidney injury (CS-AKI) is a frequent, serious complication linked to increased morbidity, mortality, and long-term kidney dysfunction. Progress in early detection and effective interventions remains limited, underscoring the need for novel biomarkers and therapeutic targets. Given the kidneys' high metabolic activity, metabolomics offers a powerful strategy to identify such markers and provide mechanistic insights. Objectives Our goal is to investigate urinary metabolome alterations associated with CS-AKI. Methods We performed untargeted amine/phenol metabolomic profiling of urine samples collected within four hours post-surgery from 55 cardiac surgery patients (26 non-AKI, 29 AKI), using high-performance chemical isotope labeling and liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS). Multivariate analyses were applied to assess group separation and to evaluate the diagnostic performance of key metabolites. Results Urinary metabolomic profiles were significantly different between AKI and non-AKI patients. Of 1384 detected metabolites, 45 were differentially altered in AKI (defined by a fold change exceeding the mean ± 2 standard deviations, raw p 2 fold change = 1.95, raw p Conclusions Untargeted urinary metabolomics distinguished AKI from non-AKI after cardiac surgery and identified distinct metabolic signatures associated with AKI severity. This work underscores the value of urinary metabolomics for revealing mechanistic pathways and identifying candidate biomarkers that may aid early diagnosis and monitoring of CS-AKI.

Gu X, Coates PJ, Wang L, Sgaramella N, Magan M, Nylander K.

Metabolomics

PMID:41999538

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Introduction Metabolic reprogramming is a hallmark of cancer. Plasma metabolomics offers a minimally invasive approach for identifying metabolic alterations that may provide insights into tumor progression. Objectives We aimed to characterize plasma metabolomic profiles in patients with oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) and evaluate their clinical relevance. Methods Plasma samples from 43 OSCC patients and 129 cancer-free controls, matched at a 1:3 ratio based on age, sex, and body mass index, were analyzed using gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS). A random forest algorithm was applied to identify key metabolic features distinguishing OSCC from controls. The clinical significance of the top metabolites was assessed and validated in another OSCC cohort (n = 27). Results A total of 113 compounds were putatively annotated and analyzed based on relative abundances. A ten-feature panel demonstrated good classification performance (area under the curve = 0.87; Matthews correlation coefficient = 0.703). The ten features are maltose, glucose, xylulose, δ-gluconolactone, fructose, indoleacetic acid, α-hydroxybutyric acid, glutamic acid, cysteine, and the monoacylglyceride MG(18:1(9Z)/0:0/0:0), suggesting dysregulated carbohydrate metabolism and oxidative stress as the major plasma metabolomic alterations in OSCC. Notably, α-hydroxybutyric acid levels were elevated in patients with regional lymph node metastasis compared with those without. Conclusion Our findings underscore the intricate interplay between altered glucose metabolism, redox imbalance, and OSCC. α-hydroxybutyric acid, a marker of oxidative stress and an indicator of insulin resistance, may be associated with metastatic progression.

de Assis JN, Pinheiro VJM, Varejão JOS, Pinto IPA, Lourenção AL, Oliveira NS, Moraes GCM, Varejão EVV, Almeida Oliveira MG, de Oliveira Ramos HJ.

J Sci Food Agric

PMID:41999131

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Background Soybean underpins Brazil's agricultural, yet its sustainability is threatened by lepidopteran pests such as Anticarsia gemmatalis. Although insect-resistant cultivars have long been associated with the constitutive accumulation of quercetin-derived flavonols, the biochemical mechanisms underlying this resistance remain poorly understood. In particular, the role of flavonol O-methylation in enhancing plant defense has not been demonstrated. Results Here we combined metabolite identification, biological assays, and structure-based modeling to investigate flavonol-mediated resistance in soybean. The resistant genotype IAC 17 was found to accumulate not only rutin (quercetin 3-O-rutinoside; [M + H] + = 611 Da) but also its O-methylated derivative isorhamnetin 3-O-rutinoside (narcissin; [M + H] + = 625 Da). The 625 Da compound was purified by reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatography and structurally confirmed by liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry and nuclear magnetic resonance analyses. Chemical methylation of rutin using methyl iodide generated methylated derivatives that were evaluated in dietary bioassays with A. gemmatalis larvae. Both rutin and its methylated derivatives reduced survival, but O-methylation markedly enhanced toxicity: methylated rutin caused approximately 95% mortality within 5 days, whereas non-methylated rutin required about 17 days to reach comparable lethality. Molecular docking against the 70 most abundant larval midgut proteins revealed strong binding of both flavonols to proteases, cytochrome P450 enzymes, glutathione S-transferases, and membrane-associated proteins. Conclusion These findings support a dual-ligand model in which rutin and narcissin cooperatively disrupt digestive and detoxification pathways in the insect midgut. The discovery of a constitutive flavonol O-methylation branch identifies narcissin as a potent defensive metabolite and provides mechanistic targets for breeding and metabolic engineering strategies aimed at developing soybean cultivars with improved resistance. © 2026 The Author(s). Journal of the Science of Food and Agriculture published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of Society of Chemical Industry.

Wang Z, He Z, Xie X, Yang Q, Huang D, Sun Z, Liu X.

Anal Chem

PMID:41999309

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Basic leucine zipper (BZIP) proteins constitute one of the largest and most diverse families of transcription factors and play a crucial role in OTA biosynthesis by regulating the expression of genes within the biosynthetic gene cluster. As a key regulatory protein, BZIP holds promise as an early biomarker for identifying OTA-producing fungi before toxin accumulation occurs, thereby helping to prevent contaminated products from entering the food supply chain. Despite its potential significance, there have been no comprehensive reports describing the development of BZIP-specific antibodies. Herein, we generated a variable new antigen receptor-alkaline phosphatase (VNAR-ALP) fusion and developed a VNAR-ALP fusion-based chemiluminescent immunoassay (VACLIA) for BZIP detection. The optimized VACLIA exhibits a limit of detection of 0.058 μg/mL and a linear range of 0.3125-5 μg/mL, along with good selectivity. Recovery experiments conducted using spiked maize and coffee samples at different BZIP concentrations demonstrated high accuracy and reliability, with recoveries ranging from 102.50% to 111.39% and relative standard deviations not exceeding 12%. The detection of actual maize samples using liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry showed a strong correlation with the results obtained from VACLIA, further validating the assay's effectiveness in real sample analysis. A comparative analysis of VACLIA with other global food safety monitoring systems highlighted its unique capability to identify potential hazards, provide timely alerts, and effectively mitigate OTA risk in food products. Overall, the developed VACLIA exhibited robust performance, high selectivity, and broad applicability in the detection of real samples, demonstrating its potential as a valuable tool for food safety monitoring.