The emerging field of quantitative blood metabolomics for biomarker discovery in critical illnesses.

ABSTRACT: Metabolomics, a science of systems biology, is the global assessment of endogenous metabolites within a biologic system and represents a "snapshot" reading of gene function, enzyme activity, and the physiological landscape. Metabolite detection, either individual or grouped as a metabolomic profile, is usually performed in cells, tissues, or biofluids by either nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy or mass spectrometry followed by sophisticated multivariate data analysis. Because loss of metabolic homeostasis is common in critical illness, the metabolome could have many applications, including biomarker and drug target identification. Metabolomics could also significantly advance our understanding of the complex pathophysiology of acute illnesses, such as sepsis and acute lung injury/acu

SUBMITTER: Serkova NJ 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3208597 | biostudies-literature | 2011 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature