Characterization of LC-MS Based Urine Metabolomics in Healthy Children and Adults

Previous studies reported that gender, age, diets or lifestyles could influence urine metabolomics, which should be considered in biomarker discovery. As a consequence, for the baseline of urine metabolomics characteristics, it becomes critical to avoid confounding effects in clinical cohort studies. In this study, we provided a comprehensive characterization of urine metabolomics in a cohort of 348 healthy children (Aged 1~18) and 315 adults (Aged 20-78) for evaluation gender and age effects. Our results suggested that urine metabolites showed larger gender differences in children than in adults. For both male/boy and female/girl, each age group showed specific metabolic characterization. Especially, the pantothenate and CoA biosynthesis and alanine metabolism pathways were enriched in early life. Androgen and estrogen metabolism showed high activity during adolescence and youth stages. Pyrimidine metabolism was enriched in the old stage. This work could help us understand the baseline of urine metabolism characteristics and contribute to further studies of clinical disease biomarker discovery.