MSACL 2018 EU Abstract

Luke Whiley (1,2), Leanne Nye (3), Nick Andreas (3), Katie Chappell (2), Ian Wilson (3), Matthew Lewis (2,3), Jeremy Nicholson (2,3), Jonathan Swann (2,3), Elaine Holmes (1,2,3)
1- UK Dementia Research Institute, Imperial College London, 2 - MRC-NIHR National Phenome Centre, Imperial College London, 3 - Division of Integrative Systems Medicine and Digestive Disease, Imperial College London

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Luke Whiley (Presenter) Imperial College London

Presenter Bio: Whilst studying for an undergraduate degree in Biochemistry with Toxicology, I initially developed an interest in analytical technologies, metabolite profiling and phenotyping. This lead me to complete a PhD at King’s College London in mass spectrometry based biomarker discovery.

Following my PhD, I made the conscious decision to spend time in regulated laboratories to develop key skills in mass spectrometry analysis, including analyst roles within the anti-doping laboratory at the London 2012 Olympic Games, the Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games and the UK Defence science and technology laboratory.

I made the transition back to academia as a post-doctoral researcher at the MRC-NIHR National Phenome Centre (NPC) and work on developing mass spectrometry based metabolomics workflows including metabolite identification and quantitative metabolite pathway analysis.

Relevant Financial Disclosures (within past 24 months) No relevant financial relationship(s) to disclose. Discussing Products? NO, presenter will NOT present educational content related to products/services of the ineligible company(ies) listed above. Conflict mitigation NOT REQUIRED.

Compositional variation in the gut microbiota has been reported in dementia and aging. The intestinal bacteria are now known to influence biochemical processes in the brain and modify host behaviours and cognitive development. This gut-brain axis arises through a variety of mechanisms that are not completely understood. One mechanism is the tryptophan-kynurenine pathway. Intestinal bacteria can metabolize tryptophan, a precursor for serotonin, reducing its bioavailability. In addition, microbes can interact with the immune system altering the amount tryptophan converted to kynurenine and its neuroactive metabolites. A UPLC-MS method was developed to quantify serum/plasma metabolites in this pathway and assess their variation in large clinical cohorts reflective of neurological disease, cognition and dementia.