SARS-CoV-2 Infection Dysregulates the Metabolomic and Lipidomic Profiles of Serum

Abstract

Coronavirus disease (COVID‐19) is a systemic infection that exerts significant impact on the metabolism. Yet, there is little information on how SARS-CoV-2, the virus causing COVID-19, affects metabolism. Using NMR spectroscopy, we measured the metabolomic and lipidomic serum profile from 263 symptomatic patients hospitalized after positive PCR testing for SARS-CoV-2 infection. We also established the profiles of 280 persons collected before the coronavirus pandemic started. PCA analyses discriminated both cohorts, highlighting the impact that the infection has in overall metabolism. The lipidomic analysis unraveled a pathogenic redistribution of the lipoprotein particle size and composition to increase the atherosclerotic risk. In turn, metabolomic analysis reveals abnormally high levels of ketone bodies (acetoacetic acid, 3-hydroxybutyric acid and acetone) and 2-hydroxybutyric acid, a readout of hepatic glutathione synthesis and marker of oxidative stress. Our results are consistent with a model in which SARS-CoV-2 infection induces liver damage associated with dyslipidemia and oxidative stress.

Ethical Approval: All serum samples were provided by the Basque Biobank for research (BIOEF). According to the Declaration of Helsinki principles, all participants in the study provided informed consent to clinical investigations, with evaluation and approval from the corresponding ethics committee (CEIC-E 20-26, 1-2016). All data was anonymized to protect the confidentiality of participants.

Keywords: COVID-19, metabolomics, lipidomics, NMR spectroscopy, diabetic ketoacidosis, infectious disease