# Dengue virus infection in children: Serum lipidomics profiling for biomarker discovery

## TL;DR

This study identifies lipid biomarkers in children with dengue fever, which could lead to faster diagnostic tools and better patient care.

## Contribution

The study discovers potential lipid biomarkers for dengue in children using lipidomics, offering new diagnostic possibilities.

## Key findings

- Lipidomics analysis revealed 12 metabolites more abundant in controls and 3 in dengue-infected children.
- A metabolite at m/z 246.265 showed 80% sensitivity, while all metabolites together reached 96% sensitivity.
- Altered lipids included sphingolipids, fatty acids, glycerol lipids, and sterols, indicating metabolic changes in dengue.

## Abstract

Dengue fever is a significant global health concern, particularly in tropical and subtropical regions, where it disproportionately affects children and adolescents. The disease, caused by the dengue virus (DENV), triggers a complex immune response that leads to metabolic alterations, particularly in lipid metabolism, which plays a key role in inflammation and disease progression. Despite advancements in diagnostic methods, the search for novel biomarkers may support the development of new diagnostic tools for faster patient screening. In this study, we applied a lipidomics approach using liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry to analyze the serum lipid metabolome of children and adolescents infected with DENV (n = 25) compared to controls (n = 15). Multivariate statistics included partial least squares discriminant analysis (PLS-DA) to assess group separation and receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis to evaluate biomarker performance. The PLS-DA revealed a tendency of separation between groups, with component 5 showing the highest predictive power (Q2 = 0.68345). From this data, 12 metabolites were significantly more abundant in controls, while 3 were more abundant in DENV infected group. ROC curve analysis demonstrated a sensitivity of 80% for the metabolite of m/z 246.265, and a sensitivity of 96% for all metabolites, as a set. The metabolites were attributed to sphingolipids, fatty acids, glycerol lipids, and sterols. Our findings reveal significant lipid metabolic alterations in pediatric dengue fever, highlighting their biomarker potential. This study reinforces the value of lipidomics in dengue research and biomarker discovery, which may contribute to the development of diagnosis tools that will improve patient care.

Dengue fever is a mosquito-borne viral disease that affects millions of people worldwide, with higher incidence in tropical and subtropical regions. Children and adolescents are particularly vulnerable, which makes early detection a crucial step for effective management. In our study, we explored how dengue infection alters lipid metabolism in the blood, as lipids play a key role in the immune response and inflammatory processes. Using an advanced technique called lipidomics, we identified specific molecules that differ between children with dengue and non-dengue febrile controls. Our findings suggest that the lipids found could serve as potential biomarkers to help distinguish dengue cases from non-dengue febrile controls. This could contribute to the development of better diagnostic tools, generating screening tests for faster detection of arboviruses and therefore improving patient care. However, further research with larger groups of patients is needed to confirm these results and explore their clinical applications. By understanding how dengue affects metabolism, we move closer to improving diagnostics and patient outcomes.