Metabolomics analysis of maternal urines for the investigation on potential biomarkers associated with endocrine disruptor bisphenol A

Metabolomics is a powerful approach for the investigation of metabolic profiling and identification of biomarkers in biological system. Prenatal environmental exposure plays a decisive role in health and disease status of both mother and baby. Embryonic exposure to environmental endocrine disruptors (EDCs) may significantly increase the risk of various reproductive diseases. This project will apply mass spectrometry (MS)-based metabolomics to investigate the possible influence of bisphenol A (BPA) exposure in the developmental programming of diseases or disorder associated with endocrine disruption. The main research contents include (1) Metabolomics analysis of the collected maternal urine samples for the investigation on biomarker changes that discriminate among different BPA exposure levels. An Orbitrap MS-based method for untargeted metabolic profiling will be developed. The collected urine samples of pregnant women will be analyzed by combining the mass spectrometry and pattern-recognition data analyses. The difference among groups with various BPA exposure levels, and groups of low birth weight vs controls will be investigated and compared. Identification of potential biomarkers will be performed using high-resolution MS and MS/MS analyses, while the determination of up- or down-regulation of the biomarkers will be conducted by using LC-MS with multiple-reaction-monitoring mode. (2) Information of the identified potential metabolites will be compared with the BPA levels detected in the same urine samples as well as general characteristics of low birth weight cases and controls to investigate the metabolites associated with possible reproductive disorder. The obtained results may help to understand the pathogenesis of the endocrine disruptor- induced disorders. Comparisons of the determined biomarkers with the known BPA levels in the maternal urine and the cases of low birth weight may benefit for better understanding on the influences of developmental programming of endocrine disruption induced by embryonic exposure to BPA. The successful complete of this project may provide useful information for designing strategy in environmental toxicology by using metabolomics approach for investigating biomarker of BPA related to reproductive disorder and diseases.