Abstract: A rapid resolution liquid chromatography coupled with quadrupole-time of flight mass spectrometry method (RRLC-Q-TOF/MS) was used to analyze metabolic fingerprint of the plasma samples from systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) patients. Supervised pattern recognition methods combined with orthogonal signal correction partial least square-discriminate analysis (OSC-PLS-DA) were used to process the metabolic data. A nice distinction between SLE patients and healthy control group was observed. Further, ten ions, which had a significant contribution to classification, had been selected from metabolic profiles of SLE patients. The ten ions were identified and belong to seven metabolic biomarkers. It was shown that there were abnormal metabolisms of amino acids, phospholipids and porphyrin in SLE patients. It provided a scientific basis for the monitoring and diagnosis of SLE. These results will benefit the early intervention and treatment of SLE and the research of the mechanism of pathogenesis.

Key words: metabonomics , partial least square-discriminate analysis (PLS-DA), systemic lupus erythematosus, rapid resolution liquid chromatography coupled with quadrupole-time of flight mass spectrometry (RRLC-Q-TOF/MS)