Dynamic Metabolomic Landscape of the Murine Brain Across Acute to Chronic Stages of Borrelia garinii Infection
5 affiliations
- 1Key Laboratory of Veterinary Pharmaceutical Development, Lanzhou Institute of Husbandry and Pharmaceutical Sciences, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, Lanzhou 730050, China
- 2State Key Laboratory of Animal Disease Control and Prevention, College of Veterinary Medicine, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou Veterinary Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Lanzhou 730070, China
- 3College of Medical, Qinghai University, Xining 810016, China
- 4College of Chemistry, Biology and Environment, Yuxi Normal University, Yuxi 653100, China
- 5College of Life Science, Ningxia University, Yinchuan 750021, China
Abstract
Lyme neuroborreliosis (LNB), caused by Borrelia garinii, often leads to persistent neurological deficits, yet early diagnosis remains insensitive and the temporal metabolic changes in the infected brain are largely unexplored. In this study, a murine model of B. garinii infection was established using 80 female BALB/c mice, and brain tissues were collected at acute 7 (days post-infection, DPI), mid- (15 and 21 DPI), and chronic (30 DPI) stages for untargeted gas chromatography–time-of-flight mass spectrometry (GC-TOF-MS) metabolomics. Thirty-one differential metabolites were identified, with downregulated metabolites predominating acutely and upregulated metabolites prevailing chronically. Twelve common metabolites, including creatine, lysine, and galactose derivatives, were consistently altered. KEGG analysis revealed disrupted amino acid metabolism, particularly valine, leucine, and isoleucine biosynthesis (ko00290), arginine and proline metabolism (ko00330), and aminoacyl-tRNA biosynthesis (ko00970). ROC analysis identified five candidate biomarkers, hydroxylamine, 2,3-dihydroxypyridine, galactose 1, galactose 2, and monostearin, with high diagnostic accuracy. This study provides a comprehensive temporal metabolomic landscape of the brain during B. garinii infection, revealing time-dependent metabolic reprogramming with sustained disruptions in amino acid and energy metabolism, and offering candidate biomarkers for improved diagnosis of central nervous system involvement in Lyme disease.
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BibTeX
@article{zhai2026dynamic,
title = {{Dynamic Metabolomic Landscape of the Murine Brain Across Acute to Chronic Stages of Borrelia garinii Infection}},
author = {Bintao Zhai and Qingli Niu and Hui Yang and Kai-Fei Guo and Yang Liu and Bibo Bao and Yaxin Zhou and Bing Li and Hong Yin and Jiyu Zhang},
journal = {Biomolecules},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
doi = {10.3390/biom16101441},
url = {https://www.mdpi.com/2218-273X/16/10/1441},
note = {CC BY 4.0},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Dynamic Metabolomic Landscape of the Murine Brain Across Acute to Chronic Stages of Borrelia garinii Infection
AU - Bintao Zhai
AU - Qingli Niu
AU - Hui Yang
AU - Kai-Fei Guo
AU - Yang Liu
AU - Bibo Bao
AU - Yaxin Zhou
AU - Bing Li
AU - Hong Yin
AU - Jiyu Zhang
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/01
JO - Biomolecules
DO - 10.3390/biom16101441
UR - https://www.mdpi.com/2218-273X/16/10/1441
AB - Lyme neuroborreliosis (LNB), caused by Borrelia garinii, often leads to persistent neurological deficits, yet early diagnosis remains insensitive and the temporal metabolic changes in the infected brain are largely unexplored. In this study, a murine model of B. garinii infection was established using 80 female BALB/c mice, and brain tissues were collected at acute 7 (days post-infection, DPI), mid- (15 and 21 DPI), and chronic (30 DPI) stages for untargeted gas chromatography–time-of-flight mass spectrometry (GC-TOF-MS) metabolomics. Thirty-one differential metabolites were identified, with downregulated metabolites predominating acutely and upregulated metabolites prevailing chronically. Twelve common metabolites, including creatine, lysine, and galactose derivatives, were consistently altered. KEGG analysis revealed disrupted amino acid metabolism, particularly valine, leucine, and isoleucine biosynthesis (ko00290), arginine and proline metabolism (ko00330), and aminoacyl-tRNA biosynthesis (ko00970). ROC analysis identified five candidate biomarkers, hydroxylamine, 2,3-dihydroxypyridine, galactose 1, galactose 2, and monostearin, with high diagnostic accuracy. This study provides a comprehensive temporal metabolomic landscape of the brain during B. garinii infection, revealing time-dependent metabolic reprogramming with sustained disruptions in amino acid and energy metabolism, and offering candidate biomarkers for improved diagnosis of central nervous system involvement in Lyme disease.
SN - 2218-273X
ER -