Evaluation of characteristic metabolites of aromatic amino acids in patients with HIV infection at different stages of disease

Background Acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS), human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection, and antiretroviral therapy are usually associated with metabolic disorders. Screening for biomarkers to evaluate the progression of metabolic disorders is important for the diagnosis and treatment of HIV infection. This study aimed to establish and validate a method to quantify serum aromatic amino acid (AAA) metabolites as biomarkers of metabolic disorders in patients with HIV. Methods The AAAs and metabolites were analyzed using high‐performance liquid chromatography–tandem mass spectrometry. Pearson's correlation, heatmap, and receiver operating characteristic curve analyses were used for statistical analysis. Results Under optimal detection conditions, the lower limits of phenylalanine (Phe), tryptophan (Trp), kynurenine (Kyn), tyrosine, phenylacetylglutamine (PAGln), and 5‐hydroxytryptamine quantification reached 0.02, 0.02, 0.01, 0.02, 0.01, and 0.002 μg/ml, respectively, and the precision of intra‐ and inter‐day was stay below 10.30%. Serum samples were stable for at least 6 months when stored at −80°C. The inter‐group differences and associations between the biomarkers exhibited a particular volatility trend in PAGln, Trp, and Kyn metabolism in HIV‐infected patients with metabolic syndrome. Conclusions The developed method can be used for rapid and sensitive quantification of the AAA metabolism profile in vivo to further appraise the process of HIV infection, evaluate intervening measures, conduct mechanistic investigations, and further study the utility of PAGln, a characteristic metabolite of AAA, as a biomarker of HIV infection coupled with metabolic syndrome. Acquired immunoeficiency syndrome (AIDS), human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection, and antiretroviral therapy are usually associated with metabolic disorders. Screening for biomarkers to evaluate the progression of metabolic disorders is important for the diagnosis and treatment of HIV infection. Aromatic amino acids (AAA) and metabolites mainly including tyrosine, phenylalanine (Phe), and tryptophan (Trp), kynurenine and 5‐hydroxytryptamine. In addition, the intestinal flora was able to break down Trp and Phe, and generate indole, indolic acid, skatole, tryptamine, phenylpyruvic acid, and phenyl acetic acid. Phenylacetic acid can be converted to phenyl acetylglutamine (PAGln) under the action of Gln PA‐transferase in liver, which have been confirmed closely related to cardiovascular d