Abstract
PURPOSE: An increased risk of gastric cancer (GC) for pickled vegetables intake has been suggested, but a complete understanding of its pathogenic origin is still lacking, especially from a metabolic viewpoint. We investigated the plasma metabolites and metabolic pathway alteration of GC related to pickled vegetables intake. METHODS: We analyzed plasma samples collected from 365 gastric cancer patients and 347 healthy individuals, and divided them into three subgroups according to the intake of pickled vegetables. Plasma samples were detected by untargeted metabolomics. RESULTS: Nine metabolites were significantly altered in GC patients among pickled vegetables intake groups (FDR P-value<0.05). All of them were associated with the risk of gastric cancer adjusted for gender, age, smoking status, Helicobacter pylori infection. Pathway analysis showed significant alteration in the folate biosynthesis pathway. CONCLUSION: In short, we provide new insights from a metabolic perspective on the relationship between pickled vegetables intake and the occurrence of gastric cancer.