Table 4.
Concentrations of the metabolite discriminants for the models T0 vs T1, T0 vs T2, T0 vs T3, T0 vs HC, and trend of metabolite variations compared to T0
| Metabolites | Classes | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| T1 | T2 | T3 | C | |||||
| 1,3-Dymethylurate | 0.47 | – | 0.54 | + | 0.66 | + | 0.62 | + |
| 2-Oxoglutarate | 0.99 | + | 0.86 | + | 0.64 | – | 0.77 | = |
| 3-Hydroxybutyrate | 2.36 | + | 2.23 | = | 1.35 | – | 1.66 | – |
| Acetate | 1.17 | = | 1.18 | = | 1 | = | 0.96 | = |
| Acetoacetate | 0.66 | + | 0.44 | = | 0.27 | – | 0.05 | – |
| Acetone | 0.19 | – | 0.08 | – | 0.04 | – | 0.002 | – |
| Citrate | 2.29 | = | 2.30 | = | 2.22 | = | 2.00 | = |
| Fructose | 4.70 | = | 5.18 | + | 5.96 | + | 5.29 | + |
| Glucose | 34.99 | = | 35.86 | = | 36.12 | = | 35.76 | = |
| Glutamate | 7.22 | + | 6.96 | + | 6.04 | – | 5.49 | – |
| Glycerol | 3.48 | + | 3.07 | + | 3.35 | + | 3.12 | + |
| Lactate | 25.53 | – | 26.31 | + | 26.34 | + | 28.62 | + |
| Lysine | 2.71 | + | 1.96 | – | 2.22 | = | 2.53 | = |
| Malonate | 0.73 | = | 0.65 | – | 0.86 | + | 0.36 | – |
| Scyllo-inositol | 2.96 | = | 2.60 | – | 3.05 | = | 3.02 | + |
| Methylmalonate | 2.51 | + | 2.28 | + | 1.83 | + | 1.40 | = |
| Pyroglutamate | 1.74 | + | 2.04 | + | 2.06 | + | 2.00 | + |
| Taurine | 2.06 | – | 2.38 | = | 2.45 | + | 3.07 | + |
| Tryptophan | 0.44 | = | 0.48 | = | 0.58 | + | 0.72 | + |
| Myo-inositol | 2.57 | + | 2.49 | + | 2.8 | + | 2.52 | + |
The concentrations of the different metabolites are reported in millimoles (mM). The patients’ blood samples were collected at baseline (T0) and then at 6 (T1), 12 (T2), and 24 (T3) months of IFN ß treatment. Acetoacetate, acetone, 3-hydroxybutyrate, glutamate, methylmalonate, and tryptophan were the metabolites that were changed following treatment, with p value < 0.05. All metabolites underwent univariate analysis with the Wilcoxon test, whereas the mean of each metabolite at the different time points was compared to the control group using Mann–Whitney U tests