Vol.:(0123456789) 1 3 Metabolomics ( 2019) 15:90 https://doi.org/10.1007/s11306-019-1554-x ORIGINAL ARTICLE A metabolomic signature of treated and drug‑naïve patients with Parkinson’s disease: a pilot study Jacopo Troisi 1,2,3  · Annamaria Landolf 1  · Carmine Vitale 4  · Katia Longo 5  · Autilia Cozzolino 6  · Massimo Squillante 6  · Maria Cristina Savanelli 7  · Paolo Barone 1,6  · Marianna Amboni 5,6 Received: 24 December 2018 / Accepted: 5 June 2019 © Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature 2019 Abstract Introduction About 90% of cases of Parkinson’s disease (PD) are idiopathic and attempts to understand pathogenesis typi- cally assume a multifactorial origin. Multifactorial diseases can be studied using metabolomics, since the cellular metabolome refects the interplay between genes and environment. Objective The aim of our case–control study is to compare metabolomic profles of whole blood obtained from treated PD patients, de-novo PD patients and controls, and to study the perturbations correlated with disease duration, disease stage and motor impairment. Methods We collected blood samples from 16 drug naïve parkinsonian patients, 84 treated parkinsonian patients, and 42 age matched healthy controls. Metabolomic profles have been obtained using gas chromatography coupled to mass spectrometry. Multivariate statistical analysis has been performed using supervised models; partial least square discriminant analysis and partial least square regression. Results This approach allowed separation between discrete classes and stratifcation of treated patients according to con- tinuous variables (disease duration, disease stage, motor score). Analysis of single metabolites and their related metabolic pathways revealed unexpected possible perturbations related to PD and underscored existing mechanisms that correlated with disease onset, stage, duration, motor score and pharmacological treatment. Conclusion Metabolomics can be useful in pathogenetic studies and biomarker discovery. The latter needs large-scale vali- dation and comparison with other neurodegenerative conditions. Keywords Metabolome · Parkinson’s disease · Gas chromatography–mass spectrometry 1 Introduction Parkinson’s disease (PD) is the second most frequent neu- rodegenerative disorder, with a prevalence of 1% in peo- ple aged over 60 (de Lau and Breteler 2006). It is caused by the degeneration of dopaminergic neurons in the sub- stantia nigra pars compacta. Ninety per cent of cases are Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (https://doi.org/10.1007/s11306-019-1554-x) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users. Jacopo Troisi and Annamaria Landolf contributed equally to the work. * Jacopo Troisi troisi@theoreosrl.com 1 Department of Medicine, Surgery and Dentistry, “Scuola Medica Salernitana”, Neuroscience Section, University of Salerno, Baronissi, SA, Italy 2 Theoreo srl, Via degli Ulivi 3, 84090 Montecorvino Pugliano, SA, Italy 3 European Biomedical Research Institute of Salerno (EBRIS), Via S. de Renzi, 3, 84125 Salerno, SA, Italy 4 Department of Motor Science and Wellness, University Parthenope, Naples, Italy 5 Institute of Diagnosis and Care (IDC) Hermitage-Capodimonte, Naples, Italy 6 Department of Medicine and Surgery, Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases (CEMAND), Neuroscience Section, University of Salerno, Fisciano, Italy 7 Ios & Coleman, Naples, Italy