Polyethylene glycols (PEGs) are widely used in everyday items such as food additives and in personal care products. In addition, they have multiple medical applications: as laxatives, excipients, and covalently coupled to drug molecules leading to improved pharmacokinetics (PEGylation). While generally regarded as biologically inert, the human body is known to produce antibodies against PEGylated molecules. In addition, PEGs have been shown to be part of a biomarker signature to predict colon cancer outcome, suggesting a more complex and yet unknown behavior of PEGs in the human body.<br/>Here, we introduce PEGomics, a retrospective screening approach of publicly available LC-MS data. Using a custom R script to process entire studies, the presence of PEGs was reveled in most human plasma, serum and whole blood samples investigated. Several PEG species and adducts were identified and their correlation with different diseases and health conditions was investigated further.<br/>Blood PEG levels significantly differed between patient groups in multiple clinical studies related to e.g. pregnancy duration, fasting and smoking. We discuss possible causes for these effects in the light of recent reports of allergies against PEGs and outline our further strategies to identify the source of PEGs in the human body as well as possible metabolic transformations.

PEGomics – a meta-study on factors affecting polyethylene glycol (PEG) levels in human blood

ACS Spring Meeting 2021

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