Exploring lipid metabolism reprogramming in meningiomas through lipidomics of matched clinical specimens

BACKGROUND: Meningiomas, among the most common primary intracranial tumors, present significant clinical challenges, particularly due to the propensity for recurrence in higher-grade variants and the paucity of effective non-surgical therapies.Lipid metabolism plays a critical role in tumor progression; however, the specific lipid dysregulation underlying meningioma biology remains incompletely understood. METHODS: In this study, meningioma tissues and patient-matched arachnoid membrane tissues were collected from 12 patients undergoing meningioma resection surgery. A comprehensive lipidomic analysis was performed on these tissues, and lipid metabolic differences between meningioma and arachnoid tissues were evaluated using multiple t-tests with appropriate correction for multiple comparisons. RESULTS: Our analyses revealed pronounced lipidomic remodeling in meningiomas, characterized by an overall increase in total lipid abundance compared with arachnoid tissues. Specifically, phospholipids such as phosphatidylcholine (PC), phosphatidylethanolamine (PE), and cardiolipin (CL) were significantly elevated, whereas phosphatidylinositol (PI) levels were reduced. Fatty acid composition also displayed distinct alterations, with decreased saturated fatty acids (SFAs) and increased polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs). In addition, glycerophospholipids and sphingolipids, including sphingomyelin (SM) and ceramide (Cer), exhibited significant remodeling, reflecting profound metabolic reprogramming in meningiomas. Correlation analyses further suggested associations between specific lipid species (e.g., MePC and SM) and clinicopathological features such as tumor size and patient age. CONCLUSION: These findings highlight the pivotal role of lipid metabolic reprogramming in meningioma pathogenesis and underscore the potential of lipidomic profiling to identify biologically relevant biomarkers and therapeutic targets through comparison with arachnoid tissue.