Oxidative environment causes molecular remodeling in embryonic heart-a metabolomic and lipidomic fingerprinting analysis

Environmental factors including pollution affect human health, and the unifying factor in determining toxicity and pathogenesis for a wide array of environmental factors is oxidative stress. Here, we created the oxidative environment with 2,2-azobis (2-amidinopropane) dihydrochloride (AAPH) and consequent cardiac remodeling in chick embryos. The metabolite fingerprint of heart tissue was obtained from Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopic analysis. The global lipidomic analysis was done using electrospray ionization coupled with tandem mass spectrometry (ESI-MS/MS) by precursor ion scanning and neutral loss scanning methods. Further, the fatty acid levels were quantified in AAPH-treated H9c2 cardiomyoblasts with gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS). Lipidomic fingerprinting study indicated that majority of differentially expressed phospholipids species in heart tissue belonged to ether phosphatidylcholine (ePC) species, and we conclude that excess oxidative environment may alter the phospholipid metabolism at earlier stages of cardiac remodeling.