A Metabolite Array Technology for Precision Medicine

The
application of metabolomics in translational research suffers
from several technological bottlenecks, such as data reproducibility
issues and the lack of standardization of sample profiling procedures.
Here, we report an automated high-throughput metabolite array technology
that can rapidly and quantitatively determine 324 metabolites including
fatty acids, amino acids, organic acids, carbohydrates, and bile acids.
Metabolite identification and quantification is achieved using the
Targeted Metabolome Batch Quantification (TMBQ) software, the first
cross-vendor data processing pipeline. A test of this metabolite array
was performed by analyzing serum samples from patients with chronic
liver disease (N = 1234). With high detection efficiency
and sensitivity in serum, urine, feces, cell lysates, and liver tissue
samples and suitable for different mass spectrometry systems, this
metabolite array technology holds great potential for biomarker discovery
and high throughput clinical testing. Additionally, data generated
from such standardized procedures can be used to generate a clinical
metabolomics database suitable for precision medicine in next-generation
healthcare.