LC-MS-based metabolomics in understanding the mechanisms of alzheimer's disease and biomarker discovery

Application of novel systems biology techniques, such as metabolomics, that allow surveillance of changes in multiple cellular pathways could significantly improve our ability to monitor disease development.Through its ability to provide information on changes in multiple metabolic pathways with changes in levels of large number of individual metabolites, metabolomics offers a novel approach to biomarker discovery and Alzheimer's disease (AD) diagnosis. Despite the fact that a number of specific metabolites or metabolic pathways identified using various metabolomic platforms differed between classes of metabolites, both nontargeted and targeted LC-MS approaches have demonstrated the high accuracy of metabolic fingerprints indisease diagnosis. Significant overlap between the affected metabolic pathways incerebrospinal fluid and plasmafrom the same individuals with mild cognitive impairment and AD further supports the utility of metabolomics for identification of much needed blood-based biomarkers. Animal models of AD closely mimic changes in metabolic networks involved in disease progressio in humans. Metabolic signatures identified in mechanistic and therapeutic studies in animal models of AD can be used to accelerate drug discovery in human translational research.