To analyze the metabolic status of forest encephalitis patients, research the effect of forest encephalitis on lipid metabolism, and clarify the possible pathogenesis.

Based on liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS), lipidomics analysis was performed in 50 patients with tick-borne encephalitis and 39 healthy samples from Hulunbuir region. The patients′ serum samples were analyzed by utilizing the multivariate statistical analysis method such as principal component analysis (PCA) and orthogonal partial least squares-discriminant analysis (OPLS-DA).

A total of 465 peaks were detected in the samples, and metabolites such as phospholipids and glycerides were identified. To identify the significant differential metabolites (P<0.01, VIP>1, FC>2), a total of 26 biomarkers were screened, which phospholipids tend to be upregulated[log₂(Fold change)>0], such as phosphatidylcholine (PC) and phosphatidylethanolamine (PE); while glycerides tend to be decreased[log₂(Fold change)<0], such as diacylglycerol (DAG) and triacylglycerol (TAG), and those metabolites were closely related to anti-inflammatory and other metabolic pathways. The AUC value of potential biomarkers obtained was 0.999, which could be used for diagnosis of disease group and healthy group.

The study showed that phospholipid metabolism and glyceride metabolism pathways would have some change after human infected by virus, and the differential metabolites could be used as potential markers for the diagnosis of tick-borne encephalitis, which provide a theoretical basis for disease research.

Tick-borne encephalitis; Liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry; Lipidomics