Dyslipidemia is a metabolic hallmark of acute pain in sickle cell disease.

Individuals with sickle cell disease (SCD) experience intense acute episodic pain associated with vaso-occlusive events and persistent, often daily, chronic pain. Triggers for acute episodic pain include cold exposure, strenuous exercise, and hypoxia. The molecular mechanisms underlying acute pain in SCD are poorly defined. We asked whether acute pain was associated with an altered metabolomic profile in individuals with SCD. We performed untargeted metabolomics on plasma from 25 children with SCD obtained during two disease states: 1) during an acute pain episode, and 2) during baseline state of health ("baseline health"). Control plasma was analyzed from 25 race-matched healthy controls. W