ABSTRACT
<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To analyze the metabolic states of the lipids, protein, carbohydrate, and nucleic acid for chronic superficial gastritis patients of splenasthenic syndrome (SS), and to explore the pathogenesis mechanism of SS based on substance and energy metabolisms.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>During June 2004 to March 2005, recruited were four chronic superficial gastritis patients of SS who visited at the First Hospital of Guangzhou University of Chinese Medicine and Guangdong Provincial Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine. Four healthy volunteers were recruited from Guangzhou University of Chinese Medicine. Their gastric mucosa was extracted to perform experiments of DNA microarray. The dual-channel DNA microarray data were mined and bioinformatics analyzed by BRB ArrayTools and IPA software.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>Fifteen genes were involved in substance and energy metabolisms in 20 differentially expressed genes, accounting for 75%.Among these genes, one gene was up-regulated, 14 genes down-regulated, and 11 genes were enzyme gene. Differentially expressed genes related to lipid metabolism included ACAA2 and CYP20A1, manifested as fatty acid catabolism and cholesterol transformation. Genes related to protein metabolism included ALDH9A1, ASL, ASS1, PCY-OX1L, RPS28, UBE2D2, UBXN1, B3GNT1, GCNT1, and PPP1R3C, manifested as decreased amino acid metabolism that may affect the biologic processes such as autonomic nerve, urea cycle, etc., reduced protein synthesis, increased ubiquitination of fault fold proteins, and decreased post-translated modification of glycosylation and dephosphorylation. Genes related to carbohydrate metabolism included PPP1R3C, B3GNT1, and GCNT1, manifested as decreased glycogen and glycan syntheses. Genes related to nucleic acid metabolism included RMI1, SMARCD3, and PARP1, manifested as degraded DNA duplication and transcription, and increased DNA damage repair.</p><p><b>CONCLUSIONS</b>The metabolisms of the lipids, protein, carbohydrate, and nucleic acid in chronic superficial gastritis patients of SS obviously decreased, manifested mainly as down-regulated enzyme gene expression. We inferred that these might be one of the vital pathogenesis mechanisms for nutrition dysmetabolism of SS.</p>