Department of Biological Sciences, CW 405, Biological Sciences Building, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada T6G 2E9.
Department of Computing Science, 2-21 Athabasca Hall University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada T6G 2E8.
Nat Rev Drug Discov. 2016 Jul;15(7):473-84. doi: 10.1038/nrd.2016.32. Epub 2016 Mar 11.
Metabolomics is an emerging 'omics' science involving the comprehensive characterization of metabolites and metabolism in biological systems. Recent advances in metabolomics technologies are leading to a growing number of mainstream biomedical applications. In particular, metabolomics is increasingly being used to diagnose disease, understand disease mechanisms, identify novel drug targets, customize drug treatments and monitor therapeutic outcomes. This Review discusses some of the latest technological advances in metabolomics, focusing on the application of metabolomics towards uncovering the underlying causes of complex diseases (such as atherosclerosis, cancer and diabetes), the growing role of metabolomics in drug discovery and its potential effect on precision medicine.
代谢组学是一门新兴的“组学”科学，涉及生物系统中代谢物和代谢的全面特征描述。代谢组学技术的最新进展正在推动越来越多的主流生物医学应用。特别是，代谢组学正越来越多地用于诊断疾病、了解疾病机制、发现新的药物靶点、定制药物治疗方案和监测治疗效果。本综述讨论了代谢组学的一些最新技术进展，重点介绍了代谢组学在揭示复杂疾病（如动脉粥样硬化、癌症和糖尿病）的根本原因、在药物发现中的作用日益增强及其对精准医学的潜在影响等方面的应用。
