Mass Spectrometry & Purification Techniques
Open Access

Abstract

Tobacco Smoke-Induced Alterations in Hepatic Lipid Profiles Demonstrated by Imaging Mass Spectrometry

Suzanne M de la Monte, Ming Tong, Kavin Nunez, Emine Yalcin, Jared Kay, Amit R Agarwal and Enrique Cadenas

To account for differences in susceptibility to alcoholic liver disease (ALD), tobacco smoking should be evaluated as a potential cofactor given the very high percentage of heavy drinkers also smoke, and the NNK tobacco-specific nitrosamine was shown to cause steatohepatitis and exacerbate molecular and biochemical effects of alcohol on the liver. Since one of the key factors linked to ALD progression is dysregulated lipid metabolism, we examined effects of cigarette smoke (CS) exposures on hepatic lipid profiles using matrix-assisted laser desorption and ionization imaging mass spectrometry (MALDI-IMS). Adult male A/J mice were exposed to air (8 weeks; A8), CS for 4 (CS4) or 8 (CS8) weeks; or CS8 with 2 weeks recovery (CS8+R). MALDI-IMS demonstrated broad CS-associated reductions in hepatic phospholipids that were partly ameliorated by short-term recovery. Principal component analysis revealed CSassociated shifts in phospholipid profiles that also partly normalized with recovery. Heatmaps demonstrated striking effects of CS with graded responses to exposure duration and recovery. Importantly, several of the CS-induced lipid profile alterations persisted after air recovery, suggesting that the responses had become permanent, whereas others worsened with CS exposure duration and were either sustained or revered with recovery