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Lipidomics reveals association of circulating lipids with body mass index and outcomes in IgA nephropathy patients
Yueyi Deng1,†,* , Qingqing Wu2,†,* , Wanjia Chen1 , Li Zhu2 , Wangyi Liu1 , Fangying Xia2 , Liang Sun3 , Xu Lin3 , Rong Zeng2,*
1Department of Nephrology, Longhua Hospital, Shanghai University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Shanghai 200032, China
2Shanghai Institute of Biochemistry and Cell Biology, Center for Excellence in Molecular Cell Science, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai 200031, China
3Shanghai Institute of Nutrition and Health, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai 200031, China
These authors contributed equally to this work
*Correspondence to:Yueyi Deng , Email:sh_dengyueyi@163.com Qingqing Wu , Email:qqwu@sibs.ac.cn Rong Zeng , Email:zr@sibcb.ac.cn
J Mol Cell Biol, Volume 13, Issue 8, August 2021, 565-575,  https://doi.org/10.1093/jmcb/mjab040
Keyword:  IgA nephropathy, circulating lipids, body mass index, lipidomics, dyslipidemia, traditional Chinese medicine

IgA nephropathy (IgAN) is a leading cause of chronic kidney disease (CKD), which are commonly accompanied by dyslipidemia. Obesity is also associated with dyslipidemia and risk of CKD, but the relation of the dyslipidemia patterns with obesity and disease progression in IgAN patients remains unknown. Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) and the combined treatment with corticosteroids and TCM have been shown to be of benefit for IgAN patients, but predictive markers for guiding these treatments are lacking. Here, we quantified 545 lipid species in the plasma from 196 participants, including 140 IgAN patients and 56 healthy volunteers, and revealed an altered plasma lipidome in IgAN patients as compared to healthy participants. Association analysis showed that a subgroup of glycerides, particularly triacylglycerols (TGs) containing docosahexaenoic acid, were positively associated with high body mass index (BMI) in under- or normal-weight IgAN patients, while several free fatty acids and sphingomyelins were positively associated with high BMI in overweight or obese IgAN patients. Further, our study suggested that elevated levels of eight lipids, mainly TG species containing linolenic acid, were independent risk factors for IgAN progression and also reported the prospective association of circulating lipids with treatment outcomes in IgAN. Taken together, our findings may not only help to achieve precision medicine but also provide a knowledge base for dietary intervention in the treatment of IgAN.