Table 1.
Main patterns of human-based Metabolomics studies about NAFLD.
| First Author | Sample Size # | Method | Main Findings | Reference |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kalhan | 60 | LC; GC; MS | (1) Glutamate, creatine, pyruvate, unknown X-01911_200, were lower NAFL than NASH; (2) undecenoate and linolenate higher | [16] |
| Puri | 125 | MS | (1) Patients with NASH exhibited a decrease of docosahexanoic acid to docosapentenoic acid ratio and a rise of 11-hydroxyeicosatetraenoic acid than NAFL and HC | [17] |
| Barr | 42 | LC; MS | (1) Deoxycholic acid was higher in NAFLD versus normal liver; (2) antioxidative ether glycerophospholipids, sn-2 arachidonly diacylglycerophosphocholine, and free arachidonic acid were different between NAFL and NASH | [35] |
| Barr | 467 | LC; MS | (1) High serum NEFA in NAFLD patients; (2) Low NEFA and elevated acyl carnitines in NASH | [36] |
| Han | 58 | LC; MS | (1) The short-chain carnitines were higher in NASH; (2) long-chain fatty acid and phospholipids lower in NASH respect to the others; (3) significant dissimilarities between human NAFLD progression and rodent models | [37] |
| Dong | 108 | LC; MS | (1) Carnitine in urine was lower in NAFLD patients than in HC; (2) amino acids were higher in patients with NASH patients than in HC; (3) cholinesterase was lower in patients with NASH than NAFL; (4) level of indoleacetic acid was higher in the NASH group compared with NAFL | [38] |
| Lake | 45 | LC; MS | (1) NASH patients show higher levels of leucine, isoleucine, valine in respect to NAFL; (2) carnitine metabolites were higher in NASH than NAFL | [39] |
| Sokooian | 99 | LC; MS | (1) Patients with NASH showed a 1.26-fold decrease in betaine levels than NAFL | [40] |
| O’Sullivan | 470 | LC; MS | (1) DMGV levels increased in the presence of NASH; (2) DMGV levels fell in parallel with metabolic improvements | [41] |
LC, liquid chromatography; MS, mass spectrometry; GC, gas chromatography; NAFL, Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver; NASH, Non-alcoholic Steatohepatitis; HC, Healthy Controls; NEFA, Non-esterified fatty acids; NAFLD, Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease; DMGV, Dimethylguanidino valeric acid. # Number of human subjects involved (parallel animal models are not computed).