Affiliation:
1. Cellular and Molecular Endocrine Research Center, Research Institute for Endocrine Sciences Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences Tehran Iran
2. Department of Neurology University of California Irvine California USA
3. Department of Computer Engineering, Faculty of Engineering Ferdowsi University of Mashhad Mashhad Iran
4. Department of Medical Genetics, School of Medicine Tehran University of Medical Sciences Tehran Iran
Abstract
AbstractBackgroundThyroid cancer (TC) is the predominant malignancy within the endocrine system. However, the standard method for TC diagnosis lacks the capability to identify the pathological condition of all thyroid lesions. The metabolomics approach has the potential to manage this problem by identifying differential metabolites.AimsThis study conducted a systematic review and meta‐analysis of the NMR‐based metabolomics studies in order to identify significant altered metabolites associated with TC.MethodsA systematic search of published literature in any language in three databases including Embase, PubMed, and Scopus was conducted. Out of 353 primary articles, 12 studies met the criteria for inclusion in the systematic review. Among these, five reports belonging to three articles were eligible for meta‐analysis. The correlation coefficient of the orthogonal partial least squares discriminant analysis, a popular model in the multivariate statistical analysis of metabolomic data, was chosen for meta‐analysis. The altered metabolites were chosen based on the fact that they had been found in at least three studies.ResultsIn total, 49 compounds were identified, 40 of which were metabolites. The increased metabolites in thyroid lesions compared normal samples included lactate, taurine, alanine, glutamic acid, glutamine, leucine, lysine, phenylalanine, serine, tyrosine, valine, choline, glycine, and isoleucine. Lipids were the decreased compounds in thyroid lesions. Lactate and alanine were increased in malignant versus benign thyroid lesions, while, myo‐inositol, scyllo‐inositol, citrate, choline, and phosphocholine were found to be decreased. The meta‐analysis yielded significant results for three metabolites of lactate, alanine, and citrate in malignant versus benign specimens.DiscussionIn this study, we provided a concise summary of 12 included metabolomic studies, making it easier for future researchers to compare their results with the prior findings.ConclusionIt appears that the field of TC metabolomics will experience notable advancement, leading to the discovery of trustworthy diagnostic and prognostic biomarkers.