Metabolomics in rheumatic diseases: desperately seeking biomarkers

Abstract

Metabolomics enables the profiling of large numbers of small molecules in cells, tissues and biological fluids. These molecules, which include amino acids, carbohydrates, lipids, nucleotides and their metabolites, can be detected quantitatively. Metabolomic methods, often focused on the information-rich analytical techniques of NMR spectroscopy and mass spectrometry, have potential for early diagnosis, monitoring therapy and defining disease pathogenesis in many therapeutic areas, including rheumatic diseases. By performing global metabolite profiling, also known as untargeted metabolomics, new discoveries linking cellular pathways to biological mechanisms are being revealed and are shaping our understanding of cell biology, physiology and medicine. These pathways can potentially be targeted to diagnose and treat patients with immune-mediated diseases.

Protein oxidation, nitration and glycation biomarkers for early-stage diagnosis of osteoarthritis of the knee and typing and progression of arthritic disease

“…Even for eRA, however, the anti-CPP antibody test has relatively low sensitivity [15]; indeed, we observed sensitivity of 56 % herein with patients recruited within 5 months of the onset of symptoms [16]. Hitherto, biomarkers of protein oxidation, nitration and glycation have not been developed for clinical diagnostic application in arthritis, excepting studies on plasma 3-NT [41]; the trace-level of these biomarkers leads to them often being overlooked in untargeted approaches to biomarkers in arthritis [42]. …”

Fibroblast-like synoviocyte metabolism in the pathogenesis of rheumatoid arthritis

“…The shuttling of up-regulated metabolites can also serve as a form of intercellular communication [36, 37]. In addition, mitochondria integrate various metabolic pathways and through this process produce intermediates needed for the synthesis of lipids, steroid hormones, and heme, and contribute to thermogenesis [38].…”

Acute metabolic response of Portunus trituberculatus to Vibrio alginolyticus infection

“…Characterization of metabolomic differences between healthy and diseased states can improve our understanding of the mechanisms underlying pathological processes (Guma et al, 2016). Many successful applications of NMR-based metabolomics have been reported for a wide range of diseases such as schistosomiasis (Wu et al, 2010), systemic lupus erythematosus (Ouyang et al, 2011), osteoarthritis (Lamers et al, 2005), rheumatoid arthritis (Priori et al, 2015), and diabetes mellitus (Xu et al, 2012).…”