Serum Proteomic Profiling in Patients with Advanced Schistosoma Japonicum-Induced Hepatic Fibrosis

Abstract Background: Schistosoma japonicum (S. japonicum) is a parasitic flatworm that is the aetiological agent of human schistosomiasis, an important cause of hepatic fibrosis. Schistosomiasis-induced hepatic fibrosis is a consequence of the highly fibrogenic nature of egg-induced granulomatuous lesions, the main pathogenic factor of schistosomiasis. Although global awareness of the association between schistosomiasis-indued hepatic fibrosis and s. japonicum infection is increasing, little is known about the mechanism mediating the rapid progression to schistosomiasis in cirrhotic patients.Methods: We systematically used data-independent acquisition (DIA)-based liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry to identify differentially expressed proteins in serum samples from patients with advanced S. japonicum-induced hepatic fibrosis.Results: On the basis of our analysis, we identified 1,144 proteins, among which 67 were differentially expressed between the healthy control and SHF-F2 groups and 214 were differentially expressed between the SHF-F2 and SHF-F4 groups (up- or downregulation of at least 1.5-fold in serum samples). Furthermore, our results indicated that two selected proteins (C1QA and CFD) are potential biomarkers for distinguishing patients with cirrhosis resulting from S. japonicum infection.Conclusions: This report is the first to provide a global proteomic profile of serum samples from patients with advanced S. japonicum-induced hepatic fibrosis. Our results shed new light on the molecular mechanisms that are dysregulated in and contribute to the pathogenesis of schistosomiasis-induced hepatic fibrosis. C1QA and CFD are promising diagnostic markers for patients with cirrhosis resulting from S. japonicum infection, although further large-scale studies are needed. Our DIA-based quantitative proteomic analysis revealed molecular differences among individuals with different stages of advanced S. japonicum-induced hepatic fibrosis and might provide fundamental information for further detailed investigations.