Application of LC-MS-Based Global Metabolomic Profiling Methods to Human Mental Fatigue

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• 作者：Zhenling Chen ; Xianfa Xu ; Jianping Zhang ; Yongsuo Liu ; Xianggang Xu ; Lili Li ; Wei Wang ; Haishan Xu ; Wei Jiang ; Yan Wang
• 刊名：Analytical Chemistry
• 出版年：2016
• 出版时间：December 6, 2016
• 年：2016
• 卷：88
• 期：23
• 页码：11293-11296
• 全文大小：257K
• ISSN：1520-6882

文摘

Mental fatigue is characterized by a reduced capacity for work and a loss of capacity to respond to stimulation and is usually accompanied by a feeling of tiredness and drowsiness. Mental fatigue at work is a serious problem and can raise safety concerns especially in the transportation system. It is believed that mental fatigue is a direct or contributing cause of road and air related accidents and incidents. Psychological studies indicate that fatigue results in reduced work efficiency, alertness, and impaired mental performance. However, its underlying biochemical mechanisms are poorly understood. We hypothesized that the human body is an integrated system, and mental fatigue results in changes not only in psychology but also in biochemistry of the human body. These biochemical changes are detectable in metabolites. We employed global metabolomic profiling methods to screen biochemical changes that occur with mental fatigue in air traffic controllers (ATCs) in civil aviation. A total of 45, all male, ATCs (two batches) were recruited as two mental fatigue groups and 23 executive staff acted as a control group for this study. The volunteers’ urine samples were collected before and after their work. The samples were analyzed with liquid chromatography/mass spectrometry equipped with a polar, a weak polar, and a nonpolar column, respectively. Three candidate biomarkers were selected on the basis of statistical significance, coefficient of variance, and compared with data of the three groups. The results suggest that urine metabolites may provide a complete new clue from biochemistry to understand, monitor, and manage human mental fatigue.