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<front>
<journal-meta>
<journal-id journal-id-type="publisher-id">Front. Cell Dev. Biol.</journal-id>
<journal-title>Frontiers in Cell and Developmental Biology</journal-title>
<abbrev-journal-title abbrev-type="pubmed">Front. Cell Dev. Biol.</abbrev-journal-title>
<issn pub-type="epub">2296-634X</issn>
<publisher>
<publisher-name>Frontiers Media S.A.</publisher-name>
</publisher>
</journal-meta>
<article-meta>
<article-id pub-id-type="publisher-id">762500</article-id>
<article-id pub-id-type="doi">10.3389/fcell.2021.762500</article-id>
<article-categories>
<subj-group subj-group-type="heading">
<subject>Cell and Developmental Biology</subject>
<subj-group>
<subject>Original Research</subject>
</subj-group>
</subj-group>
</article-categories>
<title-group>
<article-title>Metabolite Changes in the Aqueous Humor of Patients With Retinal Vein Occlusion Macular Edema: A Metabolomics Analysis</article-title>
<alt-title alt-title-type="left-running-head">Xiong et&#x20;al.</alt-title>
<alt-title alt-title-type="right-running-head">A Metabolomics Analysis of RVO</alt-title>
</title-group>
<contrib-group>
<contrib contrib-type="author">
<name>
<surname>Xiong</surname>
<given-names>Xiaojing</given-names>
</name>
<xref ref-type="aff" rid="aff1">
<sup>1</sup>
</xref>
<uri xlink:href="https://loop.frontiersin.org/people/1435647/overview"/>
</contrib>
<contrib contrib-type="author">
<name>
<surname>Chen</surname>
<given-names>Xu</given-names>
</name>
<xref ref-type="aff" rid="aff1">
<sup>1</sup>
</xref>
</contrib>
<contrib contrib-type="author">
<name>
<surname>Ma</surname>
<given-names>Huafeng</given-names>
</name>
<xref ref-type="aff" rid="aff1">
<sup>1</sup>
</xref>
</contrib>
<contrib contrib-type="author">
<name>
<surname>Zheng</surname>
<given-names>Zheng</given-names>
</name>
<xref ref-type="aff" rid="aff1">
<sup>1</sup>
</xref>
</contrib>
<contrib contrib-type="author">
<name>
<surname>Yang</surname>
<given-names>Yazhu</given-names>
</name>
<xref ref-type="aff" rid="aff1">
<sup>1</sup>
</xref>
</contrib>
<contrib contrib-type="author">
<name>
<surname>Chen</surname>
<given-names>Zhu</given-names>
</name>
<xref ref-type="aff" rid="aff1">
<sup>1</sup>
</xref>
</contrib>
<contrib contrib-type="author">
<name>
<surname>Zhou</surname>
<given-names>Zixi</given-names>
</name>
<xref ref-type="aff" rid="aff1">
<sup>1</sup>
</xref>
<uri xlink:href="https://loop.frontiersin.org/people/1386082/overview"/>
</contrib>
<contrib contrib-type="author">
<name>
<surname>Pu</surname>
<given-names>Jiaxin</given-names>
</name>
<xref ref-type="aff" rid="aff1">
<sup>1</sup>
</xref>
<uri xlink:href="https://loop.frontiersin.org/people/1418219/overview"/>
</contrib>
<contrib contrib-type="author">
<name>
<surname>Chen</surname>
<given-names>Qingwei</given-names>
</name>
<xref ref-type="aff" rid="aff2">
<sup>2</sup>
</xref>
</contrib>
<contrib contrib-type="author" corresp="yes">
<name>
<surname>Zheng</surname>
<given-names>Minming</given-names>
</name>
<xref ref-type="aff" rid="aff1">
<sup>1</sup>
</xref>
<xref ref-type="corresp" rid="c001">&#x2a;</xref>
</contrib>
</contrib-group>
<aff id="aff1">
<sup>1</sup>
<institution>Department of Ophthalmology, Second Affiliated Hospital of Chongqing Medical University</institution>, <addr-line>Chongqing</addr-line>, <country>China</country>
</aff>
<aff id="aff2">
<sup>2</sup>
<institution>Department of general practice, Second Affiliated Hospital of Chongqing Medical University</institution>, <addr-line>Chongqing</addr-line>, <country>China</country>
</aff>
<author-notes>
<fn fn-type="edited-by">
<p>
<bold>Edited by:</bold> <ext-link ext-link-type="uri" xlink:href="https://loop.frontiersin.org/people/1081502/overview">Wei Chi</ext-link>, Sun Yat-sen University, China</p>
</fn>
<fn fn-type="edited-by">
<p>
<bold>Reviewed by:</bold> <ext-link ext-link-type="uri" xlink:href="https://loop.frontiersin.org/people/1533521/overview">Chuntao Lei</ext-link>, Sichuan Academy of Medical Sciences and Sichuan Provincial People&#x2019;s Hospital, China</p>
<p>
<ext-link ext-link-type="uri" xlink:href="https://loop.frontiersin.org/people/666109/overview">Du Liping</ext-link>, Chongqing Eye Institute, China</p>
<p>
<ext-link ext-link-type="uri" xlink:href="https://loop.frontiersin.org/people/677657/overview">Wenru Su</ext-link>, Sun Yat-sen University, China</p>
</fn>
<corresp id="c001">&#x2a;Correspondence: Minming Zheng, <email>381393002@qq.com</email>
</corresp>
<fn fn-type="other">
<p>This article was submitted to Molecular and Cellular Pathology, a section of the journal Frontiers in Cell and Developmental Biology</p>
</fn>
</author-notes>
<pub-date pub-type="epub">
<day>21</day>
<month>12</month>
<year>2021</year>
</pub-date>
<pub-date pub-type="collection">
<year>2021</year>
</pub-date>
<volume>9</volume>
<elocation-id>762500</elocation-id>
<history>
<date date-type="received">
<day>22</day>
<month>08</month>
<year>2021</year>
</date>
<date date-type="accepted">
<day>26</day>
<month>11</month>
<year>2021</year>
</date>
</history>
<permissions>
<copyright-statement>Copyright &#xa9; 2021 Xiong, Chen, Ma, Zheng, Yang, Chen, Zhou, Pu, Chen and Zheng.</copyright-statement>
<copyright-year>2021</copyright-year>
<copyright-holder>Xiong, Chen, Ma, Zheng, Yang, Chen, Zhou, Pu, Chen and Zheng</copyright-holder>
<license xlink:href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">
<p>This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these&#x20;terms.</p>
</license>
</permissions>
<abstract>
<p>Macular edema (ME) is the main cause of visual impairment in patients with retinal vein occlusion (RVO). The degree of ME affects the prognosis of RVO patients, while it lacks objective laboratory biomarkers. We aimed to compare aqueous humor samples from 28 patients with retinal vein occlusion macular edema (RVO-ME) to 27 age- and sex-matched controls by ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography equipped with quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometry, so as to identify the key biomarkers and to increase the understanding of the mechanism of RVO-ME at the molecular level. Through univariate and multivariate statistical analyses, we identified 60 metabolites between RVO-ME patients and controls and 40 differential metabolites in mild RVO-ME [300&#xa0;&#x3bc;m&#xa0;&#x2264;&#xa0;central retinal thickness (CRT)&#xa0;&#x3c;&#xa0;400&#xa0;&#x3bc;m] patients compared with severe RVO-ME (CRT&#xa0;&#x2265;&#xa0;400&#xa0;&#x3bc;m). Pathway enrichment analysis showed that valine, leucine, and isoleucine biosynthesis; ascorbate and aldarate metabolism; and pantothenate and coenzyme A biosynthesis were significantly altered in RVO-ME in comparison with controls. Compared with mild RVO-ME, degradation and biosynthesis of valine, leucine, and isoleucine; histidine metabolism; beta-alanine metabolism; and pantothenate and coenzyme A biosynthesis were significantly changed in severe RVO-ME. Furthermore, the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis revealed that adenosine, threonic acid, pyruvic acid, and pyro-L-glutaminyl-<sc>l</sc>-glutamine could differentiate RVO-ME from controls with an area under the curve (AUC) of &#x3e;0.813. Urocanic acid, diethanolamine, 8-butanoylneosolaniol, niacinamide, paraldehyde, phytosphingosine, 4-aminobutyraldehyde, dihydrolipoate, and 1-(beta-D-ribofuranosyl)-1,4-dihydronicotinamide had an AUC of &#x3e;0.848 for distinguishing mild RVO-ME from severe RVO-ME. Our study expanded the understanding of metabolomic changes in RVO-ME, which could help us to have a good understanding of the pathogenesis of RVO-ME.</p>
</abstract>
<kwd-group>
<kwd>retinal vein occlusion</kwd>
<kwd>macular edema</kwd>
<kwd>macular central thickness</kwd>
<kwd>aqueous humor</kwd>
<kwd>metabolomics analysis</kwd>
</kwd-group>
</article-meta>
</front>
<body>
<sec id="s1">
<title>Introduction</title>
<p>Retinal vein occlusion (RVO) is the major cause of vision loss by retinal vascular diseases. Classified by the location of obstruction, RVO can be differentiated into central retinal vein occlusion (CRVO) and branch retinal vein occlusion (BRVO). Known risk factors for RVO include hypertension, atherosclerosis, hyperlipidemia, diabetes, thrombosis, and other inflammatory and myeloproliferative diseases (<xref ref-type="bibr" rid="B31">Petr, 2014</xref>; <xref ref-type="bibr" rid="B4">Balaratnasingam et&#x20;al., 2016</xref>). Clinical presentations of RVO include retinal hemorrhage, tortuous retinal veins, optic nerve swelling, and macular edema (ME) (<xref ref-type="bibr" rid="B33">Querques et&#x20;al., 2013</xref>). Among them, the most common cause of vision loss in RVO is ME. Studies have shown that central retinal thickness (CRT) was closely related to visual acuity and prognosis (<xref ref-type="bibr" rid="B12">Eng and Leng, 2020</xref>). Although the diagnosis of retinal vein occlusion macular edema (RVO-ME) was undoubted, the initial pathogenesis and following pathophysiology of RVO-ME remained controversial.</p>
<p>Abundant metabolomics studies have been carried out in animal models or humans under pathophysiological conditions to identify the most important metabolites in various ophthalmic diseases by analyzing blood or intraocular fluid samples (<xref ref-type="bibr" rid="B11">Deng et&#x20;al., 2020</xref>). Aqueous humor (AH) provides nutrition for the surrounding avascular cornea and lens and discharges the metabolic waste from the eyes to the venous blood. The metabonomic information of AH could directly reflect the physiological state of the eyes (<xref ref-type="bibr" rid="B15">Haines et&#x20;al., 2018</xref>). Recent studies using liquid chromatography&#x2212;mass spectrometry (LC-MS) have also identified almost 250 metabolites belonging to 47 metabolic pathways in AH (<xref ref-type="bibr" rid="B21">Karolina et&#x20;al., 2017</xref>). Additionally, wet age-related macular degeneration (<xref ref-type="bibr" rid="B16">Han et&#x20;al., 2020</xref>), diabetic retinopathy (<xref ref-type="bibr" rid="B32">Pietrowska et&#x20;al., 2018</xref>), severe myopia (<xref ref-type="bibr" rid="B20">Ji et&#x20;al., 2017</xref>), primary open-angle glaucoma (<xref ref-type="bibr" rid="B5">Buisset et&#x20;al., 2019</xref>), and primary congenital glaucoma (<xref ref-type="bibr" rid="B7">Breda et al., 2020</xref>) were also found to be associated with metabolomic signatures in the aqueous humor. However, AH metabolism of RVO-ME has not been reported&#x20;yet.</p>
<p>The aims of the current study were to identify differential metabolites in the RVO-ME compared with controls, to screen biomarkers from these differential metabolites, and to identify potential biomarkers that could differentiate patients between mild RVO-ME (mRVO-ME) (300&#xa0;&#x3bc;m&#xa0;&#x2264;&#xa0;CRT&#xa0;&#x3c;&#xa0;400&#xa0;&#x3bc;m) and severe RVO-ME (sRVO-ME) (CRT&#xa0;&#x2265;&#xa0;400&#xa0;&#x3bc;m) (<xref ref-type="bibr" rid="B23">Kim et&#x20;al., 2020</xref>) (<xref ref-type="fig" rid="F1">Figure&#x20;1</xref>).</p>
<fig id="F1" position="float">
<label>FIGURE 1</label>
<caption>
<p>Macular central thickness in each group.</p>
</caption>
<graphic xlink:href="fcell-09-762500-g001.tif"/>
</fig>
</sec>
<sec sec-type="methods" id="s2">
<title>Methods</title>
<sec id="s2-1">
<title>Sample Collection</title>
<p>The study was conducted in accordance with the requirements of the Ethics Committee of The Second Affiliated Hospital of Chongqing Medical University, which approved the study (2020405). The study follows the principles of the Helsinki Declaration. All aqueous humor samples from patients with RVO-ME (<italic>n</italic>&#xa0;&#x3d;&#xa0;28) and the age- and sex-matched control group (<italic>n</italic>&#xa0;&#x3d;&#xa0;27) were collected from ophthalmology department of the Second Affiliated Hospital of Chongqing Medical University, from October 2020 to March 2021. All participants were informed and signed the informed consent.</p>
<p>Cataract grading had been assessed using the Lens Opacities Cataract Classification System III (LOCS III) (<xref ref-type="bibr" rid="B8">Chylack et&#x20;al., 1993</xref>). LOCS III of both the RVO group and the control group were N2C2P2. The diagnosis of RVO was made using the International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision, Clinical Modification (ICD-9-CM). CRVO was defined as ICD-9 362.35 and BRVO as ICD-9 362.36 (<xref ref-type="bibr" rid="B25">Kupka, 1978</xref>). The inclusion criteria for RVO-ME were as follows: 1) age &#x2265;18&#xa0;years, 2) diagnosis within 1&#xa0;year, and 3) CRT&#xa0;&#x2265;&#xa0;300&#xa0;&#x3bc;m. Exclusion criteria included the following: 1) age-related macular degeneration; 2) diabetic retinopathy; 3) previous intravitreal injection of anti-vascular endothelial growth factor or steroids; 4) previous intraocular surgery; 5) previous retinal photocoagulation; 6) glaucoma, including neovascular glaucoma; 7) iris redness and anterior chamber hemorrhage; 8) vitreous hemorrhage and other vitreoretinal disease; 9) cerebrovascular accident or myocardial infarction in the past 3&#xa0;months; and 10) any kind of eye drops has been used within 3&#xa0;months prior to sample collection. Samples of the control group were collected from age- and sex-matched patients who received aqueous humor samples before cataract surgery. All subjects and controls were not using hormonal medication.</p>
</sec>
<sec id="s2-2">
<title>Sample Preparation</title>
<p>AH samples were taken by puncture after surface anesthesia and disinfection. Approximately 200&#xa0;&#x3bc;l of aqueous humor was collected. The AH samples were immediately transferred to dust-free Eppendorf tubes, centrifuged twice at 4&#xb0;C and 16,000&#xd7;<italic>g</italic> for 15&#xa0;min, and then the supernatants were collected in cryogenic vials. Finally, the supernatant was collected and quickly stored at&#x2212;80&#xb0;C until metabolomics analysis.</p>
<p>For metabolomics analysis, ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography equipped with quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometry (UHPLC-Q-TOF/MS) analysis has been carried out. To an EP tube, 50&#xa0;&#x3bc;l of sample was transferred. After the addition of 200&#xa0;&#x3bc;l of extract solution (acetonitrile/methanol&#xa0;&#x3d;&#xa0;1:1, containing isotopically labelled internal standard mixture), the samples were vortexed for 30&#xa0;s, sonicated for 10&#xa0;min in ice water bath, and incubated for 1&#xa0;h at &#x2212;40&#xb0;C to precipitate proteins. Then, the samples proceeded to centrifugation at 12,000&#xa0;rpm [RCF&#xa0;&#x3d;&#xa0;13,800 (&#xd7;<italic>g</italic>), <italic>R</italic>&#xa0;&#x3d;&#xa0;8.6&#xa0;cm] for 15&#xa0;min at 4&#xb0;C. The resulting supernatant was transferred to a fresh glass vial for analysis. The quality control (QC) sample was prepared by mixing an equal aliquot of the supernatants from all of the samples.</p>
</sec>
<sec id="s2-3">
<title>Metabolomics Analysis</title>
<p>LC-MS/MS analysis was performed using an UHPLC system (Vanquish, Thermo Fisher Scientific) with a UPLC BEH Amide column (2.1&#xa0;mm&#xa0;&#xd7;&#xa0;100&#xa0;mm, 1.7&#xa0;&#x3bc;m) coupled to Q Exactive HFX mass spectrometer (Orbitrap MS, Thermo) by Shanghai Biotree Biomedical Technology Co., Ltd., China. The mobile phase consisted of 25&#xa0;mmol/l ammonium acetate and 25 ammonia hydroxide in water (pH&#xa0;&#x3d;&#xa0;9.75) (A) and acetonitrile (B). The auto-sampler temperature was 4&#xb0;C, and the injection volume was 3&#xa0;&#x3bc;l.</p>
<p>The QE HFX mass spectrometer was used for its ability to acquire MS/MS spectra on information-dependent acquisition (IDA) mode in the control of the acquisition software (Xcalibur, Thermo). In this mode, the acquisition software continuously evaluated the full-scan MS spectrum. The ESI source conditions were set as follows: sheath gas flow rate at 30&#xa0;Arb, Aux gas flow rate at 25&#xa0;Arb, capillary temperature 350&#xb0;C, full MS resolution at 60,000, MS/MS resolution at 7,500, collision energy at 10/30/60 in NCE mode, and spray voltage at 3.6&#xa0;kV (positive) or &#x2212;3.2&#xa0;kV (negative), respectively.</p>
</sec>
<sec id="s2-4">
<title>Data Processing</title>
<p>The raw data was converted to the mzXML format using ProteoWizard and processed with an in-house program, which was developed using R and based on XCMS, for peak detection, extraction, alignment, and integration. Then, an in-house MS2 database (BiotreeDB) was applied in metabolite annotation. The cutoff for annotation was set at&#x20;0.3.</p>
<p>Then, we performed principal component analysis (PCA) and partial least squares discriminant analysis (PLS-DA) by using SIMCA version 16.0.2 (Umetrics AB, Sweden) to obtain an overview of metabolomics data. The contribution of each metabolite was calculated according to the PLS-DA model and expressed as variable importance in the prediction (VIP) score. In order to evaluate the significance of metabolites, the metabolites with a VIP score &#x3e;1 were analyzed by Student&#x2019;s <italic>t</italic>-test. The categories of metabolites were defined by using the Human Metabolome Database (HMDB) (<ext-link ext-link-type="uri" xlink:href="https://hmdb.ca/">https://hmdb.ca/</ext-link>).</p>
</sec>
<sec id="s2-5">
<title>Bioinformatics Analysis</title>
<p>Volcano plots were made using GraphPad Prism V.7.0.0. Meanwhile, we calculated the Euclidean distance matrix for the quantitative value of differential metabolites and clustered the differential metabolites by complete linkage method. Then, we mapped authoritative metabolite databases such as KEGG and PubChem through differential metabolites. After obtaining the matching information of differential metabolites, we searched the pathway database of the corresponding species <italic>Homo sapiens</italic> (human) and conducted an enrichment analysis and a topological analysis to find the most critical pathways that are most related to differential metabolites.</p>
</sec>
<sec id="s2-6">
<title>Receiver Operating Characteristic Curve Analysis</title>
<p>To identify potential diagnostic biomarkers, a receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis was used to assess the diagnostic potential of differential metabolites, and the area under the curve (AUC) was calculated.</p>
</sec>
<sec id="s2-7">
<title>Statistical Analysis</title>
<p>SPSS 22.0 was used to analyze the data. The results were expressed as mean&#xa0;&#xb1;&#xa0;standard deviation (SD) of continuous variables. The normality was tested by Shapiro&#x2013;Wilk test. Student&#x2019;s <italic>t</italic>-test, ANOVA, Fisher&#x2019;s exact test, and Pearson chi square test were used. A <italic>p</italic> value &#x3c;0.05 was considered statistically significant.</p>
</sec>
</sec>
<sec sec-type="results" id="s3">
<title>Results</title>
<sec id="s3-1">
<title>Clinical Characteristics of Participants</title>
<p>To investigate the metabolic profile of aqueous humor in RVO-ME, we enrolled 27 age- and sex-matched controls and 28&#x20;RVO-ME patients (11&#x20;mRVO-ME, 300&#xa0;&#x3bc;m&#xa0;&#x2264;&#xa0;CRT&#xa0;&#x3c;&#xa0;400&#xa0;&#x3bc;m, 17&#x20;sRVO-ME, CRT&#xa0;&#x2265;&#xa0;400&#xa0;&#x3bc;m) for untargeted metabolomics analysis. There was no significant difference in age, gender, hypertension, coronary heart disease, and diabetes mellitus among the groups (<xref ref-type="table" rid="T1">Table&#x20;1</xref>).</p>
<table-wrap id="T1" position="float">
<label>TABLE 1</label>
<caption>
<p>Demographic and clinical characteristics of participants.</p>
</caption>
<table>
<thead valign="top">
<tr>
<th rowspan="2" align="left"/>
<th colspan="2" align="center">RVO-ME (28)</th>
<th rowspan="2" align="center">Control (27)</th>
<th rowspan="2" align="center">
<italic>p</italic> value<xref ref-type="table-fn" rid="Tfn1">
<sup>a</sup>
</xref>
</th>
</tr>
<tr>
<th align="center">mRVO-ME (11)</th>
<th align="center">sRVO-ME (17)</th>
</tr>
</thead>
<tbody valign="top">
<tr>
<td align="left">Gender (male/female)</td>
<td align="center">5/6</td>
<td align="center">8/9</td>
<td align="center">12/15</td>
<td align="char" char=".">0.986</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td align="left">Age (years), median</td>
<td align="center">70&#xa0;&#xb1;&#xa0;8.35</td>
<td align="center">70.12&#xa0;&#xb1;&#xa0;8.03</td>
<td align="center">70.33&#xa0;&#xb1;&#xa0;8.06</td>
<td align="char" char=".">0.992</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td align="left">BMI (kg/m<sup>2</sup>)</td>
<td align="center">23.2&#xa0;&#xb1;&#xa0;1.73</td>
<td align="center">23.3&#xa0;&#xb1;&#xa0;1.82</td>
<td align="center">22.88&#xa0;&#xb1;&#xa0;2.03</td>
<td align="char" char=".">0.753</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td align="left">Hypertension (yes/no)</td>
<td align="center">3/8</td>
<td align="center">13/4</td>
<td align="center">19/8</td>
<td align="char" char=".">0.907</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td align="left">Diabetes (yes/no)</td>
<td align="center">2/9</td>
<td align="center">3/14</td>
<td align="center">4/23</td>
<td align="char" char=".">0.956</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td align="left">Coronary heart disease (yes/no)</td>
<td align="center">2/9</td>
<td align="center">3/14</td>
<td align="center">5/22</td>
<td align="char" char=".">0.997</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td align="left">Hyperlipidemia (yes/no)</td>
<td align="center">4/7</td>
<td align="center">6/11</td>
<td align="center">9/18</td>
<td align="char" char=".">0.981</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<table-wrap-foot>
<fn>
<p>RVO-ME, retinal vein occlusion macular edema; mRVO-ME, mild retinal vein occlusion macular edema; sRVO-ME, severe retinal vein occlusion macular&#x20;edema.</p>
</fn>
<fn id="Tfn1">
<label>a</label>
<p>
<italic>P</italic>-value was calculated by Student&#x2019;s <italic>t</italic>-test.</p>
</fn>
</table-wrap-foot>
</table-wrap>
</sec>
<sec id="s3-2">
<title>AH Metabolism Analysis</title>
<p>In order to identify the metabolism of aqueous humor, untargeted metabolomics analysis was applied. The results showed that the method had good reproducibility, and only slight changes of the spectral peaks of the QC samples were found (<xref ref-type="sec" rid="s11">Supplementary Figure S1</xref>). A total of 4,945 signals were identified by peak alignment, missing value reconstruction, and data normalization. After Pareto scaling the data, PCA models displayed that QC samples were closely clustered (<xref ref-type="sec" rid="s11">Supplementary Figure S2</xref>), which also indicated the high repeatability of the method and the reliability of the data. In order to visualize and identify the most prominent metabolic differences among the various groups, PLS-DA was performed. Using median coordinates for the training sets, the scatter plot of the latent variables of the PLS-DA models showed good discrimination for comparisons between RVO-ME versus controls and mRVO-ME versus sRVO-ME (<xref ref-type="fig" rid="F2">Figure&#x20;2</xref>).</p>
<fig id="F2" position="float">
<label>FIGURE 2</label>
<caption>
<p>Orthogonal projection to latent structures-discriminant analysis of aqueous humor metabolomic data.</p>
</caption>
<graphic xlink:href="fcell-09-762500-g002.tif"/>
</fig>
</sec>
<sec id="s3-3">
<title>Differentially Expressed Metabolites Between Groups</title>
<p>A total of 60 differential metabolites were found in RVO-ME when compared with controls and 40 differential metabolites in mRVO-ME compared with sRVO-ME (VIP&#xa0;&#x3e;&#xa0;1 and <italic>p</italic>&#xa0;&#x3c;&#xa0;0.05), including amino acids, carboxylic acids, fatty acid purine, pyrimidine, and so on (<xref ref-type="table" rid="T2">Table&#x20;2</xref>). Volcano plots (<xref ref-type="fig" rid="F3">Figure&#x20;3</xref>), heat plot, and hierarchical cluster analysis (<xref ref-type="fig" rid="F4">Figure&#x20;4</xref>) were used to investigate variation tendencies for the differential metabolites. Twenty-two metabolites were significantly elevated and 38 metabolites were significantly decreased in RVO-ME compared to controls. We also found 30 increased metabolites and 20 decreased metabolites when comparing mRVO-ME with sRVO-ME.</p>
<table-wrap id="T2" position="float">
<label>TABLE 2</label>
<caption>
<p>Identified differential metabolites.</p>
</caption>
<table>
<thead valign="top">
<tr>
<th rowspan="2" align="left">Metabolites</th>
<th colspan="3" align="center">RVO-ME vs. control</th>
<th colspan="3" align="center">mRVO-ME vs. sRVO-ME</th>
<th rowspan="2" align="center">Category</th>
</tr>
<tr>
<th align="center">VIP</th>
<th align="center">FC</th>
<th align="center">
<italic>p</italic> value</th>
<th align="center">VIP</th>
<th align="center">FC</th>
<th align="center">
<italic>p</italic> value<xref ref-type="table-fn" rid="Tfn2">
<sup>a</sup>
</xref>
</th>
</tr>
</thead>
<tbody valign="top">
<tr>
<td align="left">Ketoleucine</td>
<td align="center">1.158</td>
<td align="center">0.80</td>
<td align="center">0.034</td>
<td align="center">1.86</td>
<td align="center">0.68</td>
<td align="center">0.012</td>
<td align="left">Amino acids</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td align="left">
<italic>Cis</italic>-4-Hydroxy-<sc>d</sc>-proline</td>
<td align="center">1.71</td>
<td align="center">0.70</td>
<td align="center">0.030</td>
<td align="center">1.43</td>
<td align="center">0.89</td>
<td align="center">0.022</td>
<td align="left">Amino acids</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td align="left">8-Butanoylneosolaniol</td>
<td align="center">1.66</td>
<td align="center">7.98</td>
<td align="center">0.008</td>
<td align="center">2.38</td>
<td align="center">10.97</td>
<td align="center">0.007</td>
<td align="left">Fatty acid</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td align="left">Dihydrouracil</td>
<td align="center">1.87</td>
<td align="center">0.74</td>
<td align="center">0.004</td>
<td align="center">1.47</td>
<td align="center">0.88</td>
<td align="center">0.030</td>
<td align="left">Pyrimidones</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td align="left">L-trans-4-methyl-2-pyrrolidinecarboxylic acid</td>
<td align="center">1.06</td>
<td align="center">2.04</td>
<td align="center">0.033</td>
<td align="center">1.06</td>
<td align="center">2.04</td>
<td align="center">0.033</td>
<td align="left">Amino acids</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td align="left">D-mannose</td>
<td align="center">1.17</td>
<td align="center">1.36</td>
<td align="center">0.030</td>
<td align="center">1.17</td>
<td align="center">1.36</td>
<td align="center">0.030</td>
<td align="left">Carbohydrate</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td align="left">Dihydrolipoate</td>
<td align="center">2.18</td>
<td align="center">1.72</td>
<td align="center">0.004</td>
<td align="center">2.48</td>
<td align="center">2.52</td>
<td align="center">0.003</td>
<td align="left">Fatty acids</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td align="left">1-(beta-D-ribofuranosyl)-1,4-dihydronicotinamide</td>
<td align="center">1.51</td>
<td align="center">0.49</td>
<td align="center">0.010</td>
<td align="center">1.70</td>
<td align="center">0.75</td>
<td align="center">0.002</td>
<td align="left">Carbohydrate</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td align="left">D-1-amino-2-pyrrolidinecarboxylic acid</td>
<td align="center">1.18</td>
<td align="center">1.39</td>
<td align="center">0.001</td>
<td align="center">1.15</td>
<td align="center">0.79</td>
<td align="center">0.034</td>
<td align="left">Amino acids</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td align="left">Sec-butylamine</td>
<td align="center">1.15</td>
<td align="center">0.57</td>
<td align="center">0.043</td>
<td align="center">/</td>
<td align="center">/</td>
<td align="center">/</td>
<td align="left">Monoalkyl amines</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td align="left">Adenosine</td>
<td align="center">1.92</td>
<td align="center">2.20</td>
<td align="center">0.000</td>
<td align="center">/</td>
<td align="center">/</td>
<td align="center">/</td>
<td align="left">Purine</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td align="left">Aucubin</td>
<td align="center">1.22</td>
<td align="center">2.36</td>
<td align="center">0.000</td>
<td align="center">/</td>
<td align="center">/</td>
<td align="center">/</td>
<td align="left">Iridoid o-glycosides</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td align="left">Pyruvic acid</td>
<td align="center">2.01</td>
<td align="center">0.38</td>
<td align="center">0.001</td>
<td align="center">/</td>
<td align="center">/</td>
<td align="center">/</td>
<td align="left">Amino acids</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td align="left">1-Methylhypoxanthine</td>
<td align="center">1.70</td>
<td align="center">0.44</td>
<td align="center">0.007</td>
<td align="center">/</td>
<td align="center">/</td>
<td align="center">/</td>
<td align="left">Purine</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td align="left">4-Dodecylbenzenesulfonic acid</td>
<td align="center">1.12</td>
<td align="center">1.65</td>
<td align="center">0.039</td>
<td align="center">/</td>
<td align="center">/</td>
<td align="center">/</td>
<td align="left">Benzenesulfonic acids</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td align="left">2-Keto-3-deoxy-D-gluconic acid</td>
<td align="center">1.98</td>
<td align="center">1.41</td>
<td align="center">0.000</td>
<td align="center">/</td>
<td align="center">/</td>
<td align="center">/</td>
<td align="left">Amino acids</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td align="left">4-Guanidinobutanoic acid</td>
<td align="center">1.37</td>
<td align="center">0.77</td>
<td align="center">0.000</td>
<td align="center">/</td>
<td align="center">/</td>
<td align="center">/</td>
<td align="left">Amino acids</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td align="left">Pyro-L-glutaminyl-<sc>l</sc>-glutamine</td>
<td align="center">2.33</td>
<td align="center">40.20</td>
<td align="center">0.005</td>
<td align="center">/</td>
<td align="center">/</td>
<td align="center">/</td>
<td align="left">Amino acids</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td align="left">Dipropyl disulfide</td>
<td align="center">1.49</td>
<td align="center">0.54</td>
<td align="center">0.006</td>
<td align="center">/</td>
<td align="center">/</td>
<td align="center">/</td>
<td align="left">Dialkyldisulfides</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td align="left">N-Acetylhistidine</td>
<td align="center">1.57</td>
<td align="center">1.64</td>
<td align="center">0.000</td>
<td align="center">/</td>
<td align="center">/</td>
<td align="center">/</td>
<td align="left">Histidine</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td align="left">3-Methyluridine</td>
<td align="center">1.43</td>
<td align="center">0.88</td>
<td align="center">0.029</td>
<td align="center">/</td>
<td align="center">/</td>
<td align="center">/</td>
<td align="left">Pyrimidine</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td align="left">Thymine</td>
<td align="center">1.88</td>
<td align="center">0.80</td>
<td align="center">0.002</td>
<td align="center">/</td>
<td align="center">/</td>
<td align="center">/</td>
<td align="left">Pyrimidine</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td align="left">Pyrimidine</td>
<td align="center">1.23</td>
<td align="center">0.61</td>
<td align="center">0.008</td>
<td align="center">/</td>
<td align="center">/</td>
<td align="center">/</td>
<td align="left">Pyrimidine</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td align="left">(&#x2b;)-Setoclavine</td>
<td align="center">1.38</td>
<td align="center">2.29</td>
<td align="center">0.000</td>
<td align="center">/</td>
<td align="center">/</td>
<td align="center">/</td>
<td align="left">Clavines</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td align="left">
<sc>l</sc>-Methionine</td>
<td align="center">1.47</td>
<td align="center">0.56</td>
<td align="center">0.009</td>
<td align="center">/</td>
<td align="center">/</td>
<td align="center">/</td>
<td align="left">Amino acids</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td align="left">1H-indole-3-carboxaldehyde</td>
<td align="center">1.43</td>
<td align="center">0.66</td>
<td align="center">0.008</td>
<td align="center">/</td>
<td align="center">/</td>
<td align="center">/</td>
<td align="left">Indoles</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td align="left">Citraconic acid</td>
<td align="center">1.94</td>
<td align="center">1.90</td>
<td align="center">0.001</td>
<td align="center">/</td>
<td align="center">/</td>
<td align="center">/</td>
<td align="left">Fatty acids</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td align="left">3,4-Dihydro-4-[(5-methyl-2-furanyl)methylene]-2H-pyrrole</td>
<td align="center">1.33</td>
<td align="center">6.99</td>
<td align="center">0.026</td>
<td align="center">/</td>
<td align="center">/</td>
<td align="center">/</td>
<td align="left">Heteroaromatic</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td align="left">PC(22:2 (13Z,16Z)/16:1 (9Z))</td>
<td align="center">1.91</td>
<td align="center">0.13</td>
<td align="center">0.011</td>
<td align="center">/</td>
<td align="center">/</td>
<td align="center">/</td>
<td align="left">Cholines</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td align="left">Threonic acid</td>
<td align="center">2.22</td>
<td align="center">2.18</td>
<td align="center">0.000</td>
<td align="center">/</td>
<td align="left"/>
<td align="left"/>
<td align="left">Sugar acids</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td align="left">Trimethylaminoacetone</td>
<td align="center">1.07</td>
<td align="center">0.71</td>
<td align="center">0.020</td>
<td align="center">/</td>
<td align="center">/</td>
<td align="center">/</td>
<td align="left">Amino acids</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td align="left">Squamolone</td>
<td align="center">1.61</td>
<td align="center">0.78</td>
<td align="center">0.000</td>
<td align="center">/</td>
<td align="center">/</td>
<td align="center">/</td>
<td align="left">Pyrrolidine carboxamides</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td align="left">SM(d18:1/18:1 (9Z))</td>
<td align="center">1.80</td>
<td align="center">0.17</td>
<td align="center">0.007</td>
<td align="center">/</td>
<td align="center">/</td>
<td align="center">/</td>
<td align="left">Phosphosphingolipids</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td align="left">PC[22:5 (4Z,7Z,10Z,13Z,16Z)/16:0]</td>
<td align="center">1.98</td>
<td align="center">0.12</td>
<td align="center">0.004</td>
<td align="center">/</td>
<td align="center">/</td>
<td align="center">/</td>
<td align="left">Phosphatidylcholines</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td align="left">2,3-Dihydro-5-(3-hydroxypropanoyl)-1H-pyrrolizine</td>
<td align="center">1.58</td>
<td align="center">7.47</td>
<td align="center">0.020</td>
<td align="center">/</td>
<td align="center">/</td>
<td align="center">/</td>
<td align="left">Pyrrolizines</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td align="left">SM(d18:1/24:1 (15Z))</td>
<td align="center">1.70</td>
<td align="center">0.14</td>
<td align="center">0.005</td>
<td align="center">/</td>
<td align="center">/</td>
<td align="center">/</td>
<td align="left">Phosphatidylcholines</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td align="left">PC(22:4 (7Z,10Z,13Z,16Z)/16:0)</td>
<td align="center">1.63</td>
<td align="center">0.17</td>
<td align="center">0.003</td>
<td align="center">/</td>
<td align="center">/</td>
<td align="center">/</td>
<td align="left">Phosphatidylcholines</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td align="left">Cystathionine ketimine</td>
<td align="center">1.23</td>
<td align="center">1.43</td>
<td align="center">0.046</td>
<td align="center">/</td>
<td align="center">/</td>
<td align="center">/</td>
<td align="left">Amino acids</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td align="left">Beta-<sc>d</sc>-galactose</td>
<td align="center">1.73</td>
<td align="center">1.45</td>
<td align="center">0.001</td>
<td align="center">/</td>
<td align="center">/</td>
<td align="center">/</td>
<td align="left">Hexoses</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td align="left">
<sc>l</sc>-Hexanoylcarnitine</td>
<td align="center">1.72</td>
<td align="center">0.33</td>
<td align="center">0.010</td>
<td align="center">/</td>
<td align="center">/</td>
<td align="center">/</td>
<td align="left">Carnitines</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td align="left">apo-[(3-methylcrotonoyl-CoA:carbon-dioxide ligase (ADP-forming)]</td>
<td align="center">1.73</td>
<td align="center">0.33</td>
<td align="center">0.034</td>
<td align="center">/</td>
<td align="center">/</td>
<td align="center">/</td>
<td align="left">Carboximidic acids</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td align="left">Vinylacetylglycine</td>
<td align="center">1.16</td>
<td align="center">0.64</td>
<td align="center">0.009</td>
<td align="center">/</td>
<td align="center">/</td>
<td align="center">/</td>
<td align="left">Amino acids</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td align="left">2-Methoxy-3-methylpyrazine</td>
<td align="center">1.78</td>
<td align="center">0.43</td>
<td align="center">0.024</td>
<td align="center">/</td>
<td align="center">/</td>
<td align="center">/</td>
<td align="left">Methoxypyrazines</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td align="left">PC[18:3 (6Z,9Z,12Z)/18:1 (11Z)]</td>
<td align="center">1.62</td>
<td align="center">0.16</td>
<td align="center">0.006</td>
<td align="center">/</td>
<td align="center">/</td>
<td align="center">/</td>
<td align="left">Cholines</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td align="left">4-Butyloxazole</td>
<td align="center">2.01</td>
<td align="center">0.42</td>
<td align="center">0.001</td>
<td align="center">/</td>
<td align="center">/</td>
<td align="center">/</td>
<td align="left">Oxazoles</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td align="left">PC(20:4 (8Z,11Z,14Z,17Z)/P-18:0)</td>
<td align="center">1.87</td>
<td align="center">0.21</td>
<td align="center">0.014</td>
<td align="center">/</td>
<td align="center">/</td>
<td align="center">/</td>
<td align="left">Cholines</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td align="left">Perillic acid</td>
<td align="center">1.31</td>
<td align="center">0.20</td>
<td align="center">0.034</td>
<td align="center">/</td>
<td align="center">/</td>
<td align="center">/</td>
<td align="left">Menthane monoterpenoids</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td align="left">PC(18:2 (9Z,12Z)/18:0)</td>
<td align="center">1.43</td>
<td align="center">0.14</td>
<td align="center">0.013</td>
<td align="center">/</td>
<td align="center">/</td>
<td align="center">/</td>
<td align="left">Phosphatidylcholines</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td align="left">PC(20:2 (11Z,14Z)/14:0)</td>
<td align="center">1.54</td>
<td align="center">0.12</td>
<td align="center">0.012</td>
<td align="center">/</td>
<td align="center">/</td>
<td align="center">/</td>
<td align="left">Phosphatidylcholines</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td align="left">PC(22:2 (13Z,16Z)/14:0)</td>
<td align="center">1.47</td>
<td align="center">0.15</td>
<td align="center">0.029</td>
<td align="center">/</td>
<td align="center">/</td>
<td align="center">/</td>
<td align="left">Phosphatidylcholines</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td align="left">Linamarin</td>
<td align="center">1.62</td>
<td align="center">0.51</td>
<td align="center">0.004</td>
<td align="center">/</td>
<td align="center">/</td>
<td align="center">/</td>
<td align="left">Cyanogenic glycosides</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td align="left">Lycoperoside</td>
<td align="center">1.94</td>
<td align="center">11.14</td>
<td align="center">0.049</td>
<td align="center">/</td>
<td align="center">/</td>
<td align="center">/</td>
<td align="left">Steroidal saponins</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td align="left">SM(d16:1/24:1 (15Z))</td>
<td align="center">1.84</td>
<td align="center">0.21</td>
<td align="center">0.003</td>
<td align="center">/</td>
<td align="center">/</td>
<td align="center">/</td>
<td align="left">Cholines</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td align="left">Halosulfuron-methyl</td>
<td align="center">1.87</td>
<td align="center">0.34</td>
<td align="center">0.002</td>
<td align="center">/</td>
<td align="center">/</td>
<td align="center">/</td>
<td align="left">Carboxylic acids</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td align="left">SM(d18:1/22:0)</td>
<td align="center">2.08</td>
<td align="center">0.15</td>
<td align="center">0.004</td>
<td align="center">/</td>
<td align="center">/</td>
<td align="center">/</td>
<td align="left">Cholines</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td align="left">Lucidenic acid F</td>
<td align="center">1.31</td>
<td align="center">2.12</td>
<td align="center">0.032</td>
<td align="center">/</td>
<td align="center">/</td>
<td align="center">/</td>
<td align="left">Triterpenoids</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td align="left">Aminofructose 6-phosphate</td>
<td align="center">1.24</td>
<td align="center">1.42</td>
<td align="center">0.001</td>
<td align="center">/</td>
<td align="center">/</td>
<td align="center">/</td>
<td align="left">Triterpenoids</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td align="left">LysoPC(18:2 (9Z,12Z))</td>
<td align="center">2.21</td>
<td align="center">12.57</td>
<td align="center">0.010</td>
<td align="center">/</td>
<td align="center">/</td>
<td align="center">/</td>
<td align="left">Phosphocholines</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td align="left">2&#x2032;,4&#x2032;,6&#x2032;-Trihydroxyacetophenone</td>
<td align="center">1.35</td>
<td align="center">0.44</td>
<td align="center">0.047</td>
<td align="center">/</td>
<td align="center">/</td>
<td align="center">/</td>
<td align="left">Alkyl-phenylketones</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td align="left">
<sc>l</sc>-Norleucine</td>
<td align="center">/</td>
<td align="center">/</td>
<td align="center">/</td>
<td align="center">1.26</td>
<td align="center">0.78</td>
<td align="center">0.019</td>
<td align="left">Amino acids</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td align="left">3,3,5-triiodo-<sc>l</sc>-thyronine-beta-D-glucuronoside</td>
<td align="center">/</td>
<td align="center">/</td>
<td align="center">/</td>
<td align="center">1.44</td>
<td align="center">0.78</td>
<td align="center">0.010</td>
<td align="left">Steroid glucuronide conjugates</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td align="left">
<sc>l</sc>-Valine</td>
<td align="center">/</td>
<td align="center">/</td>
<td align="center">/</td>
<td align="center">1.14</td>
<td align="center">0.86</td>
<td align="center">0.026</td>
<td align="left">Amino acid</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td align="left">Niacinamide</td>
<td align="center">/</td>
<td align="center">/</td>
<td align="center">/</td>
<td align="center">2.16</td>
<td align="center">6.78</td>
<td align="center">0.003</td>
<td align="left">Nicotinamide</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td align="left">Foeniculoside VII</td>
<td align="center">/</td>
<td align="center">/</td>
<td align="center">/</td>
<td align="center">2.56</td>
<td align="center">17.16</td>
<td align="center">0.012</td>
<td align="left">Terpene glycosides</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td align="left">Piperidine</td>
<td align="center">/</td>
<td align="center">/</td>
<td align="center">/</td>
<td align="center">1.38</td>
<td align="center">0.80</td>
<td align="center">0.013</td>
<td align="left">Piperidines</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td align="left">Urocanic acid</td>
<td align="center">/</td>
<td align="center">/</td>
<td align="center">/</td>
<td align="center">1.39</td>
<td align="center">7.10</td>
<td align="center">0.010</td>
<td align="left">Carboxylic acids</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td align="left">Prolylglycine</td>
<td align="center">/</td>
<td align="center">/</td>
<td align="center">/</td>
<td align="center">1.29</td>
<td align="center">0.28</td>
<td align="center">0.012</td>
<td align="left">Dipeptides</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td align="left">Diethanolamine</td>
<td align="center">/</td>
<td align="center">/</td>
<td align="center">/</td>
<td align="center">2.58</td>
<td align="center">4.47</td>
<td align="center">0.004</td>
<td align="left">1,2-Aminoalcohols</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td align="left">Isopropylpyrazine</td>
<td align="center">/</td>
<td align="center">/</td>
<td align="center">/</td>
<td align="center">1.51</td>
<td align="center">0.74</td>
<td align="center">0.008</td>
<td align="left">Pyrazines</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td align="left">Phytosphingosine</td>
<td align="center">/</td>
<td align="center">/</td>
<td align="center">/</td>
<td align="center">2.14</td>
<td align="center">7.99</td>
<td align="center">0.032</td>
<td align="left">1,3-Aminoalcohols</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td align="left">Saccharin</td>
<td align="center">/</td>
<td align="center">/</td>
<td align="center">/</td>
<td align="center">2.41</td>
<td align="center">12.29</td>
<td align="center">0.008</td>
<td align="left">Benzothiazoles</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td align="left">8-Butanoylneosolaniol</td>
<td align="center">/</td>
<td align="center">/</td>
<td align="center">/</td>
<td align="center">2.38</td>
<td align="center">10.97</td>
<td align="center">0.007</td>
<td align="left">Fatty acid</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td align="left">5-Oxo-2(5H)-isoxazolepropanenitrile</td>
<td align="center">/</td>
<td align="center">/</td>
<td align="center">/</td>
<td align="center">2.54</td>
<td align="center">11.22</td>
<td align="center">0.010</td>
<td align="left">Isoxazoles</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td align="left">Pyrrolidine</td>
<td align="center">/</td>
<td align="center">/</td>
<td align="center">/</td>
<td align="center">1.13</td>
<td align="center">0.87</td>
<td align="center">0.030</td>
<td align="left">Amino acids</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td align="left">D-Fructosazine</td>
<td align="center">/</td>
<td align="center">/</td>
<td align="center">/</td>
<td align="center">2.42</td>
<td align="center">4.42</td>
<td align="center">0.004</td>
<td align="left">Pyrazines</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td align="left">Paraldehyde</td>
<td align="center">/</td>
<td align="center">/</td>
<td align="center">/</td>
<td align="center">2.49</td>
<td align="center">6.48</td>
<td align="center">0.007</td>
<td align="left">Trioxanes</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td align="left">1-(beta-D-ribofuranosyl)-1,4-dihydronicotinamide</td>
<td align="center">/</td>
<td align="center">/</td>
<td align="center">/</td>
<td align="center">1.70</td>
<td align="center">0.75</td>
<td align="center">0.002</td>
<td align="left">Glycosylamines</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td align="left">5-Amino-3-oxohexanoate</td>
<td align="center">/</td>
<td align="center">/</td>
<td align="center">/</td>
<td align="center">1.07</td>
<td align="center">2.10</td>
<td align="center">0.049</td>
<td align="left">Medium-chain keto acids</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td align="left">D-1-amino-2-pyrrolidinecarboxylic acid</td>
<td align="center">/</td>
<td align="center">/</td>
<td align="center">/</td>
<td align="center">1.15</td>
<td align="center">0.79</td>
<td align="center">0.034</td>
<td align="left">Amino acids</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td align="left">2-(Methylthio)-3H-phenoxazin-3-one</td>
<td align="center">/</td>
<td align="center">/</td>
<td align="center">/</td>
<td align="center">2.00</td>
<td align="center">0.40</td>
<td align="center">0.003</td>
<td align="left">Phenoxazines</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td align="left">Ribothymidine</td>
<td align="center">/</td>
<td align="center">/</td>
<td align="center">/</td>
<td align="center">1.87</td>
<td align="center">0.41</td>
<td align="center">0.006</td>
<td align="left">Pyrimidine nucleosides</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td align="left">Adipic acid</td>
<td align="center">/</td>
<td align="center">/</td>
<td align="center">/</td>
<td align="center">2.42</td>
<td align="center">2.99</td>
<td align="center">0.012</td>
<td align="left">Fatty acids</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td align="left">L-Agaridoxin</td>
<td align="center">/</td>
<td align="center">/</td>
<td align="center">/</td>
<td align="center">1.51</td>
<td align="center">0.58</td>
<td align="center">0.019</td>
<td align="left">Amino acids</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td align="left">N-Acetyl-<sc>l</sc>-alanine</td>
<td align="center">/</td>
<td align="center">/</td>
<td align="center">/</td>
<td align="center">1.27</td>
<td align="center">0.38</td>
<td align="center">0.008</td>
<td align="left">Amino acids</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td align="left">4-Aminobutyraldehyde</td>
<td align="center">/</td>
<td align="center">/</td>
<td align="center">/</td>
<td align="center">2.49</td>
<td align="center">2.93</td>
<td align="center">0.007</td>
<td align="left">Alpha-hydrogen aldehydes</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td align="left">N-Acetylserine</td>
<td align="center">/</td>
<td align="center">/</td>
<td align="center">/</td>
<td align="center">1.38</td>
<td align="center">0.72</td>
<td align="center">0.013</td>
<td align="left">Amino acids</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td align="left">3-Furoic acid</td>
<td align="center">/</td>
<td align="center">/</td>
<td align="center">/</td>
<td align="center">2.03</td>
<td align="center">0.36</td>
<td align="center">0.042</td>
<td align="left">Furoic acids</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td align="left">1-Methylhistamine</td>
<td align="center">/</td>
<td align="center">/</td>
<td align="center">/</td>
<td align="center">1.10</td>
<td align="center">0.74</td>
<td align="center">0.032</td>
<td align="left">2-Arylethylamines</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td align="left">Acetoin</td>
<td align="center">/</td>
<td align="center">/</td>
<td align="center">/</td>
<td align="center">1.74</td>
<td align="center">2.75</td>
<td align="center">0.035</td>
<td align="left">Acyloins</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td align="left">N-acetyldopamine</td>
<td align="center">/</td>
<td align="center">/</td>
<td align="center">/</td>
<td align="center">1.66</td>
<td align="center">0.45</td>
<td align="center">0.001</td>
<td align="left">Catechols</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td align="left">LysoPE (0:0/22:2 (13Z,16Z))</td>
<td align="center">/</td>
<td align="center">/</td>
<td align="center">/</td>
<td align="center">2.39</td>
<td align="center">34.45</td>
<td align="center">0.017</td>
<td align="left">Phosphoethanolamines</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td align="left">LysoPC(18:2 (9Z,12Z))</td>
<td align="center">/</td>
<td align="center">/</td>
<td align="center">/</td>
<td align="center">2.43</td>
<td align="center">9.26</td>
<td align="center">0.019</td>
<td align="left">Phosphocholines</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td align="left">Tylosin</td>
<td align="center">/</td>
<td align="center">/</td>
<td align="center">/</td>
<td align="center">2.55</td>
<td align="center">82.48</td>
<td align="center">0.045</td>
<td align="left">Aminoglycosides</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<table-wrap-foot>
<fn>
<p>RVO-ME, retinal vein occlusion macular edema; mRVO-ME, mild retinal vein occlusion macular edema; sRVO-ME, severe retinal vein occlusion macular edema; VIP, variable importance in the projection; FC, fold change.</p>
</fn>
<fn id="Tfn2">
<label>a</label>
<p>
<italic>P-value</italic> was calculated by Student&#x2019;s <italic>t</italic>-test.</p>
</fn>
</table-wrap-foot>
</table-wrap>
<fig id="F3" position="float">
<label>FIGURE 3</label>
<caption>
<p>Volcano plots of aqueous humor metabolomic.</p>
</caption>
<graphic xlink:href="fcell-09-762500-g003.tif"/>
</fig>
<fig id="F4" position="float">
<label>FIGURE 4</label>
<caption>
<p>Heat plot of the significantly differential metabolites in RVO-ME.</p>
</caption>
<graphic xlink:href="fcell-09-762500-g004.tif"/>
</fig>
</sec>
<sec id="s3-4">
<title>Pathway Analysis of Differential Aqueous Metabolites</title>
<p>MetaboAnalyst was applied to compare metabolic disturbances in RVO-ME versus controls and mRVO-ME versus sRVO-ME (<xref ref-type="table" rid="T3">Table&#x20;3</xref>). When comparing RVO-ME patients with controls, a total of three differential pathways were found, namely, valine, leucine, and isoleucine biosynthesis; pantothenate and coenzyme A (CoA) biosynthesis; and ascorbate and aldarate metabolism. Valine, leucine, and isoleucine biosynthesis; pantothenate and CoA biosynthesis; beta-alanine metabolism; histidine metabolism; and valine, leucine, and isoleucine degradation were altered in sRVO-ME when compared to mRVO-ME (<xref ref-type="fig" rid="F5">Figure&#x20;5</xref>).</p>
<table-wrap id="T3" position="float">
<label>TABLE 3</label>
<caption>
<p>The significantly altered pathways in RVO-ME.</p>
</caption>
<table>
<thead valign="top">
<tr>
<th rowspan="2" align="left">Pathway</th>
<th colspan="2" align="center">RVO-ME vs. controls</th>
<th colspan="2" align="center">sRVO-ME vs. mRVO-ME</th>
</tr>
<tr>
<th align="center">
<italic>p</italic> value<xref ref-type="table-fn" rid="Tfn3">
<sup>a</sup>
</xref>
</th>
<th align="center">Metabolites</th>
<th align="center">
<italic>p</italic> value<xref ref-type="table-fn" rid="Tfn3">
<sup>a</sup>
</xref>
</th>
<th align="center">Metanolites</th>
</tr>
</thead>
<tbody valign="top">
<tr>
<td align="left">Valine, leucine, and isoleucine biosynthesis</td>
<td align="char" char=".">&#x3c;0.001</td>
<td align="left">Pyruvic acid; citraconic acid; 4-methyl-2-oxopentanoate</td>
<td align="char" char=".">0.016</td>
<td align="left">
<sc>l</sc>-valine; 4-methyl-2-oxopentanoate</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td align="left">Pantothenate and CoA biosynthesis</td>
<td align="char" char=".">0.016</td>
<td align="left">Dihydrouracil; pyruvic acid</td>
<td align="char" char=".">0.016</td>
<td align="left">Dihydrouracil; <sc>l</sc>-valine</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td align="left">Ascorbate and aldarate metabolism</td>
<td align="char" char=".">0.043</td>
<td align="left">Pyruvic acid; threonic acid</td>
<td align="center">&#x2013;</td>
<td align="left">&#x2013;</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td align="left">Beta-alanine metabolism</td>
<td align="center">&#x2013;</td>
<td align="left">&#x2013;</td>
<td align="char" char=".">0.018</td>
<td align="left">4-Aminobutyraldehyde; dihydrouracil</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td align="left">Valine, leucine, and isoleucine degradation</td>
<td align="center">&#x2013;</td>
<td align="left">&#x2013;</td>
<td align="char" char=".">0.035</td>
<td align="left">
<sc>l</sc>-valine; M-4-methyl-2-oxopentanoate</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td align="left">Histidine metabolism</td>
<td align="center">&#x2013;</td>
<td align="left">&#x2013;</td>
<td align="char" char=".">0.042</td>
<td align="left">Urocanic acid; 1-methylhistamine</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<table-wrap-foot>
<fn>
<p>RVO-ME, retinal vein occlusion macular edema; mRVO-ME, mild retinal vein occlusion macular edema; sRVO-ME, severe retinal vein occlusion macular&#x20;edema.</p>
</fn>
<fn id="Tfn3">
<label>a</label>
<p>
<italic>P-value</italic> was calculated by Student&#x2019;s <italic>t</italic>-test.</p>
</fn>
</table-wrap-foot>
</table-wrap>
<fig id="F5" position="float">
<label>FIGURE 5</label>
<caption>
<p>Pathway analysis of differential aqueous metabolites in each group.</p>
</caption>
<graphic xlink:href="fcell-09-762500-g005.tif"/>
</fig>
</sec>
<sec id="s3-5">
<title>ROC Curve Analysis</title>
<p>Further screening of the metabolic indicators was conducted by ROC analysis (<xref ref-type="fig" rid="F6">Figure&#x20;6</xref>). As shown in <xref ref-type="fig" rid="F6">Figure&#x20;6A</xref>, threonic acid, pyro-L-glutaminyl-<sc>l</sc>-glutamine, adenosine, and pyruvic acid had an AUC&#xa0;&#x2265;&#xa0;0.813 for distinguishing RVO-ME from controls. When comparing sRVO-ME with mRVO-ME patients, the ROC analysis showed that nine metabolites had an AUC&#xa0;&#x2265;&#xa0;0.848, including urocanic acid, 1-(beta-D-ribofuranosyl)-1,4-dihydronicotinamide, phytosphingosine, niacinamide, 8-butanoylneosolaniol, dihydrolipoate, paraldehyde, 4-aminobutyraldehyde, and diethanolamine (<xref ref-type="fig" rid="F6">Figure&#x20;6B</xref>).</p>
<fig id="F6" position="float">
<label>FIGURE 6</label>
<caption>
<p>Receiver operating characteristic curve analysis.</p>
</caption>
<graphic xlink:href="fcell-09-762500-g006.tif"/>
</fig>
</sec>
</sec>
<sec sec-type="discussion" id="s4">
<title>Discussion</title>
<p>In the present study, we explored the metabolomic changes in AH of patients with RVO-ME disease. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first time that UHPC-Q-TOF/MS was used to analyze the discrepancy of AH metabolomics in RVO-ME versus controls and mRVO-ME versus sRVO-ME. After correction, 60 and 40 metabolites were differentially expressed in RVO-ME versus controls and mRVO-ME versus sRVO-ME, respectively. Notably, amino acids were the most abundant differential metabolite category. Also, significant alterations were noted in several metabolic pathways. Interestingly, we found that pantothenate and CoA biosynthesis and valine, leucine, and isoleucine biosynthesis were significantly altered both in RVO-ME versus controls and mRVO-ME versus sRVO-ME. Additionally, ROC curves were also performed to assess the metabolites of AH, which could best distinguish RVO-ME from the controls and mRVO-ME from sRVO-ME.</p>
<p>Previous studies have revealed that intraocular angiogenic factors and inflammatory cytokines play pivotal roles in the occurrence and progression of ocular complications in patients with RVO (<xref ref-type="bibr" rid="B1">An et&#x20;al., 2021</xref>; <xref ref-type="bibr" rid="B45">Yong et&#x20;al., 1007</xref>). In the current study, many inflammation-related metabolites have also been found in RVO-ME when compared with controls. Adenosine is an endogenous purine nucleoside, which is widely distributed in the body and interacts with G-protein-coupled receptors (<xref ref-type="bibr" rid="B38">Sebasti&#xe3;o and Ribeiro, 2009</xref>; <xref ref-type="bibr" rid="B37">Santiago et&#x20;al., 2020</xref>). Under the stress conditions of tissue ischemia, hypoxia, and inflammatory response, the concentration of extracellular adenosine increased exponentially. Previous studies have shown that adenosine or its analogues could raise intraocular angiogenic factors and inflammatory cytokines, such as vascular endothelial growth factor, insulin-like growth factor-1, basic fibroblast growth factor, interleukin-8, and angiogenin-2 (<xref ref-type="bibr" rid="B13">Feoktistov et&#x20;al., 2003</xref>; <xref ref-type="bibr" rid="B17">Hask&#xf3; and Pacher, 2012</xref>). <xref ref-type="bibr" rid="B27">Luo et&#x20;al. (2019</xref>) found that adenosine attenuated the inflammatory response of human endothelial cells through negative regulation of Toll-like receptor MyD88 signal. <xref ref-type="bibr" rid="B14">Haas et&#x20;al. (2011</xref>) showed that adenosine could induce a reduction of Toll-like receptor4 expression at the surface of human macrophages, resulting in a robust inhibition of TNF-&#x3b1; production. In this study, compared with the controls, the level of adenosine in RVO-ME increased, which suggests that RVO-ME was associated with inflammatory process, to some extent. In addition, adenosine also regulates vascular tension and thus blood flow. Adenosine, acting predominantly at A<sub>2A</sub>R, induced the production of NO, which causes vasodilation of retinal vessels (<xref ref-type="bibr" rid="B36">Riis-Vestergaard et&#x20;al., 2014</xref>; <xref ref-type="bibr" rid="B35">Riis-Vestergaard and Bek, 2015</xref>). We speculated that the decrease of A<sub>2A</sub>R also resulted in the increase of free adenosine, which might play a crucial role in RVO vascular occlusion. Threonic acid, also known as threonate, is a central signaling hub in ascorbate&#x2013;aldarate pathway (<xref ref-type="bibr" rid="B42">Wang et&#x20;al., 2019</xref>). We detected an abnormal expression of threonine and ascorbate and aldarate metabolism in RVO-ME. As shown by the experiment of corneal neovascularization in a rodent model, ascorbic acid might inhibit angiogenesis, which was regarded as a vital event of RVO (<xref ref-type="bibr" rid="B2">Ashino et&#x20;al., 2003</xref>). In our present study, we also found that adenosine and threonic acid could act as a potential biomarker to distinguish RVO-ME from the controls according to ROC analysis. Therefore, we hold the view that adenosine and threonic acid may play a crucial role in RVO-ME.</p>
<p>When compared with mRVO-ME, we found that the level of D-mannose decreased in sRVO-ME. D-mannose is a natural C-2 epimer of glucose, which can be transported to mammalian cells through the plasma membrane to promote the diffusion of glucose transporter (GLUT). <xref ref-type="bibr" rid="B34">Rehak et&#x20;al. (2010</xref>) found that IL-1 was rapidly and strongly up-regulated in the retina and retinal pigment epithelium (to levels 80&#x20;times higher than controls) in RVO-ME, whereas D-mannose can inhibit macrophage IL-1 (<xref ref-type="bibr" rid="B41">Torretta et&#x20;al., 2020</xref>) and delay the development of osteoarthritis <italic>in vivo</italic> by enhancing autophagy activated by the AMPK pathway (<xref ref-type="bibr" rid="B26">Lin et&#x20;al., 2021</xref>). Consequently, we considered that D-mannose supplementation may be a meaningful treatment for macular edema caused by&#x20;RVO.</p>
<p>Oxidative stress played a momentous role in the occurrence and prognosis of RVO-ME (<xref ref-type="bibr" rid="B6">Chen et&#x20;al., 2018</xref>; <xref ref-type="bibr" rid="B18">Hwang et&#x20;al., 2020</xref>); accordingly, related metabolic abnormalities were also found in our study. Many amino acids expressed differently in our study were also involved in oxidative stress response, such as glycine (<xref ref-type="bibr" rid="B24">Knebel et&#x20;al., 2012</xref>), histidine (<xref ref-type="bibr" rid="B29">Nasri et&#x20;al., 2020</xref>), methionine (<xref ref-type="bibr" rid="B9">Demerchi et&#x20;al., 2021</xref>), N-acetylserine (<xref ref-type="bibr" rid="B22">Kim et&#x20;al., 2019</xref>), urocanic acid (<xref ref-type="bibr" rid="B19">Jauhonen et&#x20;al., 2011</xref>), cis-4-hydroxy-D-proline (<xref ref-type="bibr" rid="B3">Aswani et&#x20;al., 2019</xref>), et&#x20;al. We also detected a significant metabolite in nucleotide metabolism: nicotinamide (NAM). NAM, the amide of vitamin B3 and precursor for nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NAD&#x2b;), has a strong antioxidant property and can effectively reduce the damage to cells caused by reactive oxygen species (ROS) during oxidative stress (<xref ref-type="bibr" rid="B28">Mej&#xed;a et&#x20;al., 2017</xref>). Compared with mRVO-ME, the level of NAM in sRVO-ME was decreased. In addition, the AUC of NAM was found to be 0.848 in the ROC analysis, which could serve as a potential biomarker for differentiation between sRVO-ME and mRVO-ME. We believe that the degree and prognosis of RVO-ME are closely related to oxidative stress response. NAM may become an important prognostic biomarker for the treatment of RVO-ME.</p>
<p>Another interesting finding from our study was that the pantothenate (PA) and CoA biosynthesis and valine, leucine, and isoleucine biosynthesis pathways showed a difference in mRVO-ME versus sRVO-ME and RVO-ME versus controls, respectively. Therefore, we speculated that these two metabolic pathways were not only correlated to the occurrence of RVO-ME but also affected the severity of RVO macular edema. Studies had reported that these two metabolic pathways were associated to oxidative stress. PA can regulate cell membrane CoA synthesis and protect endothelial function from enhanced oxidative stress (<xref ref-type="bibr" rid="B10">Demirci et&#x20;al., 2014</xref>). Many studies had also confirmed that this metabolic pathway was abnormal in a variety of diseases, like diabetic kidney disease (<xref ref-type="bibr" rid="B40">Tao et&#x20;al., 2020</xref>), neurodegeneration (<xref ref-type="bibr" rid="B48">Zizioli et&#x20;al., 2015</xref>), Vogt&#x2013;Koyanagi&#x2013;Harada (<xref ref-type="bibr" rid="B44">Xu et&#x20;al., 2021</xref>), et&#x20;al. Valine, leucine, and isoleucine, namely, branched-chain amino acids (BCAAs), which could over-induce oxidative processes and up-regulate proinflammatory factors (<xref ref-type="bibr" rid="B47">Zhenyukh et&#x20;al., 2017</xref>), are unable to be synthesized by animals. Hence, a variety of pathological changes, such as maple syrup urine disease (MSUD) (<xref ref-type="bibr" rid="B43">Xu et&#x20;al., 2020</xref>), type 2 diabetes (<xref ref-type="bibr" rid="B46">Zeng et&#x20;al., 2019</xref>), and cancer (<xref ref-type="bibr" rid="B30">Peng et&#x20;al., 2020</xref>; <xref ref-type="bibr" rid="B39">Sivanand and Vander Heiden, 2020</xref>) could be detected when there is a disorder in BCAA metabolism. Nevertheless, the molecular mechanisms of BCAAs involved in the pathogenesis of RVO-ME-inducing retinopathy remain unknown, thus warranting future research.</p>
<p>We recognized the limitations of our research. Firstly, the sample size of patients was small, due to the difficulty in collecting AH sample from patients and controls. Secondly, obtaining AH samples for the diagnosis of RVO-ME or judgment of severity and prognosis of macular edema is not so practical to perform due to the invasive nature of the procedure. Subsequent studies will recruit more participants and combine serum or urine sample analysis to strengthen the results. Thirdly, owing to geographical limitations, our research was limited to the Chinese Han population. We look forward to get the results of other ethnic samples from other researchers. Last but not the least, further research is needed to shed more light on the exact role of these metabolites and relevant metabolic pathways in the pathogenesis of RVO-ME.</p>
<p>In conclusion, to our knowledge, this study is the first one to provide a comprehensive understanding of the metabolomics of AH in patients with RVO-ME. The results showed that a series of complex and serious metabolic disorders occurred in AH in patients with RVO-ME. Furthermore, we also found significant differences in metabolites between mild macular edema and severe macular edema in RVO-ME patients. Significantly, intraocular angiogenic factors, inflammatory mechanisms, and oxidative stress response may play a prominent role in the occurrence and development of RVO-ME. The above-mentioned results may elucidate the metabolic biomarkers for the prognosis and novel therapeutic strategies to prevent or delay the development of RVO-ME.</p>
</sec>
</body>
<back>
<sec id="s5">
<title>Data Availability Statement</title>
<p>The datasets presented in this study can be found in online repositories. The names of the repository/repositories and accession number(s) can be found in the article/<xref ref-type="sec" rid="s11">Supplementary Material</xref>.</p>
</sec>
<sec id="s6">
<title>Ethics Statement</title>
<p>The studies involving human participants were reviewed and approved by the Ethics Committee of the Second Affiliated Hospital of Chongqing Medical University. The patients/participants provided their written informed consent to participate in this&#x20;study.</p>
</sec>
<sec id="s7">
<title>Author Contributions</title>
<p>XX and MZ conceived the idea and designed the study. XX, MZ, HM, ZZ, YY, ZC, and XC contributed to collecting the aqueous humor and clinical data. XX, JP, and ZX performed the experiments. MZ and QC analyzed the data. XX wrote the manuscript. MZ and XC reviewed the data interpretation and edited the manuscript. All authors contributed to the article and approved the submitted version.</p>
</sec>
<sec id="s8">
<title>Funding</title>
<p>This study was supported by the National Nature Science Foundation of China (31871182), the Chongqing Science and Health joint project (2020MSXM130), and the General Projects of Chongqing Natural Science Foundation (cstc2019jcyj-msxmX0283).</p>
</sec>
<sec sec-type="COI-statement" id="s9">
<title>Conflict of Interest</title>
<p>The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.</p>
</sec>
<sec sec-type="disclaimer" id="s10">
<title>Publisher&#x2019;s Note</title>
<p>All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors, and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article, or claim that may be made by its manufacturer, is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.</p>
</sec>
<ack>
<p>The authors thank all participants in this study. The authors also would like to thank the technical support of the BIOTREE company in Shanghai, China.</p>
</ack>
<sec id="s11">
<title>Supplementary Material</title>
<p>The Supplementary Material for this article can be found online at: <ext-link ext-link-type="uri" xlink:href="https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fcell.2021.762500/full#supplementary-material">https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fcell.2021.762500/full&#x23;supplementary-material</ext-link>
</p>
<supplementary-material xlink:href="Image1.JPEG" id="SM1" mimetype="application/JPEG" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"/>
<supplementary-material xlink:href="Image2.JPEG" id="SM2" mimetype="application/JPEG" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"/>
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