Untargeted lipidomics of bronchopulmonary dysplasia induced by hyperoxia exposure in rats

Bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD), characterized by impaired lung development, remains a leading cause of morbidity and mortality in premature infants. The synthesis and metabolism of lipids play a critical role in normal lung development, such as dipalmitoylphosphatidylcholine, a key component of pulmonary surfactant (PS). Therefore, we conducted a lipidomics study of rat lung tissue to explore the changes of pulmonary lipid composition in the progression of BPD disease. In this study, we exposed neonatal Sprague-Dawley (SD) rats to hyperoxia for 14 days. After hyperoxia exposure, the lung tissues of rats were analyzed pathologically, and untargeted lipidomics was analyzed by liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS). Hematoxylin-eosin (H&E) staining showed that the alveoli enlarged, the number of alveoli decreased and the pulmonary surfactant-associated protein D (SFTPD) decreased in hyperoxia-exposed rats. A total of 620 pulmonary lipids were detected by LC-MS/MS, covering 27 lipid categories. The most common lipids were triacylglycerol (TAG), followed by phosphatidylcholine (PC) and phosphatidylethanolamine (PE). Compared with those rats exposed to normoxic conditions, the lipid levels in the lungs of rats exposed to hyperoxia for 14 days generally decreased, with the levels of TAG and PC decreasing most significantly. In short, our results provide a clue for finding therapeutic targets and biomarkers of a BPD rat model lung liposome.