Metabolomics in diabetes research

Abstract

<jats:p>Diabetes represents one of the most important global health problems because it is associated with a large economic burden on the health systems of many countries. Whereas the diagnosis and treatment of manifest diabetes have been well investigated, the identification of novel pathways or early biomarkers indicative of metabolic alterations or insulin resistance related to the development of diabetes is still in progress. Over half of the type 2 diabetes patients show manifestations of diabetes-related diseases, which highlight the need for early screening markers of diabetes. During the last decade, the rapidly growing research field of metabolomics has introduced new insights into the pathology of diabetes as well as methods to predict disease onset and has revealed new biomarkers. Recent epidemiological studies first used metabolism to predict incident diabetes and revealed branched-chain and aromatic amino acids including isoleucine, leucine, valine, tyrosine and phenylalanine as highly significant predictors of future diabetes. This review summarises the current findings of metabolic research regarding diabetes in animal models and human investigations.</jats:p>

Systemic alterations in the metabolome of diabetic NOD mice delineate increased oxidative stress accompanied by reduced inflammation and hypertriglyceremia

“…134000 Ϯ 88000 106000 Ϯ 1e ϩ05 0.79 0.02 C18-diol (4) 124 Ϯ 80 85 Ϯ 89 0.69 0.00 C18-ketone (2) 9920 Ϯ 11000 5480 Ϯ 3600 0.55 0.001 C20-hydroxy (10) 9480 Ϯ 5600 4230 Ϯ 5200 0.45 Ͻ0.00001 C20-ketone (3) 3050 Ϯ 2400 1260 Ϯ 1600 0.41 Ͻ0.00001 LPC (12) 7970000 Ϯ 2600000 3270000 Ϯ 1800000 0.41 Ͻ0.00001 PC (50) 53500000 Ϯ 1.1e ϩ07 39300000 Ϯ 1.6e ϩ07 0.73 Ͻ0.00001 PE (10) 210000 Ϯ 78000 141000 Ϯ 79000 0.67 0.002 PI (6) 1050000 Ϯ 290000 478000 Ϯ 320000 0.46 Ͻ0.00001 Prostacyclin (4) 125 Ϯ 82 49.8 Ϯ 42 0.4 Ͻ0.00001 SM (20) 2380000 Ϯ 660000 1410000 Ϯ 600000 0.59 Ͻ0.00001 Sterol (9) 1030000 Ϯ 240000 656000 Ϯ 280000 0.64 Ͻ0.00001 Triol (2) 23 Ϯ 23 10.7 Ϯ 9.6 0.47 0.01 FC, fold change in means in diabetic vs. control animals. *Based on Mann-Whitney U-test.…”

“…Over the past decade, the application of metabolomics has been used to gain new insights into the pathology of numerous diseases including type 2 diabetes, develop methods predictive of disease onset, and reveal new biomarkers associated with diagnosis and prognosis (20,51). Therefore, the application of metabolomics to study T1D pathophysiology represents a promising avenue of research to identify candidate biomarkers related to disease development and progression.…”

A Novel Fasting Blood Test for Insulin Resistance and Prediabetes

“…Metabolomic studies in metabolic diseases 31 have been used to identify novel biomarkers that associate with IR 23,32,33 and predict T2DM. [34][35][36] The three metabolites used in the test have a number of potential roles in metabolic pathways relevant to insulin action, insulin secretion, or β-cell function.…”

Metabolic profiling in diabetes

“…Application of metabolomics approaches to metabolic disorders, especially diabetes, is particularly promising since deregulations of metabolic processes are expected to be directly related to relevant disease end-points. Friedrich (2012) recently reviewed current findings of metabolic research regarding diabetes in animal models and humans in this journal. I therefore first give an introduction to metabolomics with an update on current diabetes studies using metabolomics (Table 1), followed by a focus on study design considerations, current challenges and future directions of metabolic profiling, and how metabolomics can be applied most successfully in diabetes research (Table 2).…”