Metabolomics-Based Study of Logarithmic and Stationary Phases of Promastigotes in Leishmania major by 1H NMR Spectroscopy

Background: Cutaneous leishmaniasis is one of the most important parasitic diseases in humans. In this disease, one of the responsible organisms is Leishmania major, which is transmitted by sandfly vector. There are specific differences in biochemical profiles and metabolite pathways in logarithmic and stationary phases of Leishmania parasites. In the present study, 1H NMR spectroscopy was used to examine the metabolites outliers in the logarithmic and stationary phases of promastigotes in L. major to enlighten more about the transmission mechanism in metacyclogenesis of L. major. Methods: Promastigote was cultured, logarithmic and stationary phases were separated by the peanut agglutinin, and cell metabolites were extracted. 1H NMR spectroscopy was applied, and outliers were analyzed using principal component analysis. Results: The most altered metabolites in stationary and logarithmic phases were limited to citraconic acid, isopropylmalic acid, L-leucine, ornithine, caprylic acid, capric acid, and acetic acid. Conclusion: 1H NMR spectroscopy could play an important role in the characterization of metabolites in biochemical pathways during a metacyclogenesis process. These metabolites and their pathways can help in exploiting a transmission mechanism in metacyclogenesis, and outcoming data might be used in the metabolic network reconstruction of L. major modeling.