The serum metabolomic profiles of atrial fibrillation patients treated with direct oral anticoagulants or vitamin K antagonists

Long-term oral anticoagulation is the primary therapy for preventing ischemic stroke in patients with atrial fibrillation (AF). Different types of oral anticoagulant drugs can have specific effects on the metabolism of patients. Here we characterize, for the first time, the serum metabolomic and lipoproteomic profiles of AF patients treated with anticoagulants: vitamin K antagonists (VKAs) or direct oral anticoagulants (DOACs). Serum samples of 167 AF patients (median age 78 years, 62 % males, 70 % on DOACs treatment) were analyzed via high resolution 1H nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy. Data on 25 metabolites and 112 lipoprotein-related fractions were quantified and analyzed with multivariate and univariate statistical approaches. Our data provide evidence that patients treated with VKAs and DOACs present significant differences in their profiles: lower levels of alanine and lactate (odds ratio: 1.72 and 1.84), free cholesterol VLDL-4 subfraction (OR: 1.75), triglycerides LDL-1 subfraction (OR: 1.80) and 4 IDL cholesterol fractions (ORs ∼ 1.80), as well as higher levels of HDL cholesterol (OR: 0.48), apolipoprotein A1 (OR: 0.42) and 7 HDL cholesterol fractions/subfractions (ORs: 0.40–0.51) are characteristic of serum profile of patients on DOACs' therapy. Our results support the usefulness of NMR-based metabolomics for the description of the effects of oral anticoagulants on AF patient circulating metabolites and lipoproteins. The higher serum levels of HDL cholesterol observed in patients on DOACs could contribute to explaining their reduced cardiovascular risk, suggesting the need of further studies in this direction to fully understand possible clinical implications.