Fig. 4

The hypothalamic steroid hormone biosynthesis is significantly affected by inflammation, particularly in female mice. A–E Hypothalamic metabolic signatures of LPS-treated female and male mice. A Biochemical classifications of all DMs. B Lipid subgroups and lipid molecule counts. C–E Glycerophospholipids (C), fatty acyls (D), sterols, and sphingolipids (E) in LPS-Female vs. LPS-Male. Relative levels of the lipids by z-scores, a positive value indicates a higher level, whereas a negative value indicates a lower concentration in the LPS-Female group. F, G Implications of DMs in biological processes (F) and metabolic pathways (G) in the LPS-Female vs. LPS-Male comparison based on MetaboAnalyst 5.0 analyses. H Venn plot of significantly affected metabolic pathways in LPS-treated female and male mice. Perturbations of steroid hormone biosynthesis are apparent in the hypothalamus of the female depression model. I Venn diagram of DMs from different comparisons. Red boxes represent increased levels, and green boxes represent decreased levels. FA fatty acyls, LPG lysophosphatidylglycerol, LPI lysophosphatidylinositol, MG monoacylglycerol, PC phosphatidylcholine, PG phosphatidylglycerol, PS phosphatidylserine, SP sphingolipid, ST sterol lipid, TG triacylglycerol