{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,4,17]],"date-time":"2026-04-17T15:09:53Z","timestamp":1776438593043,"version":"3.51.2"},"reference-count":45,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"8","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,4,17]],"date-time":"2026-04-17T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1776384000000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["IJMS"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Non-muscle-invasive bladder cancer (NMIBC) is characterized by high recurrence rates and necessitates lifelong cystoscopic surveillance, underscoring the need for minimally invasive biomarkers to improve early detection and risk stratification. Therefore, this study aimed to investigate the role of trimethylamine-N-oxide (TMAO) and its precursors as diagnostic biomarkers for NMIBC. A total of 50 male patients with NMIBC (25 pTa and 25 pT1) were included in this study. Additionally, 52 age-matched healthy individuals were included as controls. Serum TMAO and its dietary precursors were quantified using liquid chromatography\u2013tandem mass spectrometry. Group differences were analyzed using nonparametric tests, associations were assessed using Spearman\u2019s correlation, and diagnostic performance was evaluated using receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis. Multivariate logistic regression was performed to identify independent predictors, and a composite risk score was generated. Serum TMAO, carnitine, and choline levels were significantly higher in patients with NMIBC than in controls (p \u2264 0.0001), whereas betaine showed a nonsignificant trend toward higher levels (p \u2265 0.05). The pathological stage (pTa vs. pT1) showed the strongest correlation with TMAO levels. The ROC analysis revealed that TMAO had the highest individual diagnostic accuracy (area under the curve [AUC] = 0.875, 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.812\u20130.939), whereas carnitine and choline provided complementary diagnostic performance. In multivariate models, TMAO, carnitine, and choline remained independent predictors of NMIBC (p \u2264 0.0001). A composite risk score integrating all four metabolites demonstrated excellent discriminatory capacity (AUC = 0.958, 95% CI 0.926\u20130.991). The TMAO metabolic axis can be used as a minimally invasive biomarker panel for NMIBC. Further large, prospective, multicenter studies integrating metabolomic and microbiome profiling are needed to validate the findings.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/ijms27083591","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,4,17]],"date-time":"2026-04-17T14:24:51Z","timestamp":1776435891000},"page":"3591","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Serum Trimethylamine-N-Oxide and Its Precursors as a Diagnostic Biomarker Panel for Non-Muscle-Invasive Bladder Cancer"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"27","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0009-0001-0275-3634","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Aleyna","family":"Baltac\u0131o\u011flu","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Graduate School of Health Sciences, Acibadem Mehmet Ali Aydinlar University, Istanbul 34752, Turkey"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0009-0001-2087-2629","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Osman","family":"Acar","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Medical Biochemistry, School of Medicine, Acibadem Mehmet Ali Aydinlar University, Istanbul 34752, Turkey"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0009-0008-7816-3615","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Ceyda","family":"S\u00f6nmez","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Graduate School of Health Sciences, Acibadem Mehmet Ali Aydinlar University, Istanbul 34752, Turkey"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Ye\u015fim","family":"Sa\u011fl\u0131can","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Pathology, School of Medicine, Acibadem Mehmet Ali Aydinlar University, Istanbul 34752, Turkey"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"\u00d6mer Burak","family":"Argun","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Medical Laboratory Techniques, Health Services of Vocational School, Istanbul Kent University, Istanbul 34413, Turkey"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Ali R\u0131za","family":"Kural","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Urology, School of Medicine, Acibadem Mehmet Ali Aydinlar University, Istanbul 34752, Turkey"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"As\u0131f","family":"Y\u0131ld\u0131r\u0131m","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Urology, School of Medicine, Istanbul Medeniyet University, Istanbul 34722, Turkey"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"\u00dcmit","family":"\u0130nce","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Pathology, School of Medicine, Acibadem Mehmet Ali Aydinlar University, Istanbul 34752, Turkey"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-3014-748X","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Muhittin Abdulkadir","family":"Serdar","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Graduate School of Health Sciences, Acibadem Mehmet Ali Aydinlar University, Istanbul 34752, Turkey"},{"name":"Department of Medical Biochemistry, School of Medicine, Acibadem Mehmet Ali Aydinlar University, Istanbul 34752, Turkey"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-7399-4929","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Aysel","family":"\u00d6zp\u0131nar","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Graduate School of Health Sciences, Acibadem Mehmet Ali Aydinlar University, Istanbul 34752, Turkey"},{"name":"Department of Medical Biochemistry, School of Medicine, Acibadem Mehmet Ali Aydinlar University, Istanbul 34752, Turkey"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,4,17]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"15156","DOI":"10.1038\/s41598-022-19576-9","article-title":"Untargeted ultra-high-resolution mass spectrometry metabolomic profiling of blood serum in bladder cancer","volume":"12","author":"Ruman","year":"2022","journal-title":"Sci. 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