Untargeted metabolomics revealed urinary metabolic pattern for discriminating prostate cancer from benign prostatic hyperplasia in Chinese participants.

Introduction: Precise screening and discriminating of prostatic hyperplasia (PH) could avoid unnecessary biopsy and overdiagnosis. However, the metabolic pattern of patients with prostatic hyperplasia in Chinese population is rarely reported.

Methods: Urine samples of Chinese participants with prostate cancer (PCa), benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) and non-prostate diseases (NPD) were detected with four ultra-performance liquid chromatography/tandem mass spectrometric (UPLC-MS/MS) methods to profile the metabolic disturbance.

Results: In patients with PH, the most significant dysregulation was observed in metabolites categorized as lipid or amino acid, especially those involved in histidine metabolism, purine metabolism, tryptophan metabolism and tyrosine metabolism. For discrimination BPH from PCa, apart from previously reported metabolites related to phospholipid metabolism or tryptophan metabolism, metabolites of dipeptides and androgenic steroids, such as leucylhydroxyproline and etiocholanolone glucuronide, also exhibited potential to discriminate PCa from BPH.

Conclusion: This study conducts precise detection of urinary metabolomic pattern for patients with benign prostatic hyperplasia or prostate cancer, and could inform their potential application as discriminant biomarkers.