Menzies Health Institute Queensland, Griffith University, Gold Coast, QLD Australia.
Chemistry Laboratory, Department of Food Science and Human Nutrition, Agricultural University of Athens, Athens, Greece.
Brief Bioinform. 2018 May 1;19(3):524-536. doi: 10.1093/bib/bbw131.
Elemental metabolomics is quantification and characterization of total concentration of chemical elements in biological samples and monitoring of their changes. Recent advances in inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry have enabled simultaneous measurement of concentrations of > 70 elements in biological samples. In living organisms, elements interact and compete with each other for absorption and molecular interactions. They also interact with proteins and nucleotide sequences. These interactions modulate enzymatic activities and are critical for many molecular and cellular functions. Testing for concentration of > 40 elements in blood, other bodily fluids and tissues is now in routine use in advanced medical laboratories. In this article, we define the basic concepts of elemental metabolomics, summarize standards and workflows, and propose minimum information for reporting the results of an elemental metabolomics experiment. Major statistical and informatics tools for elemental metabolomics are reviewed, and examples of applications are discussed. Elemental metabolomics is emerging as an important new technology with applications in medical diagnostics, nutrition, agriculture, food science, environmental science and multiplicity of other areas.
元素代谢组学是对生物样本中化学元素总量的定量和特征描述，以及监测其变化。电感耦合等离子体质谱技术的最新进展使得能够同时测量生物样本中超过 70 种元素的浓度。在生物体中，元素相互作用并相互竞争吸收和分子相互作用。它们还与蛋白质和核苷酸序列相互作用。这些相互作用调节酶的活性，对许多分子和细胞功能至关重要。现在，在先进的医学实验室中，已经常规检测血液、其他体液和组织中超过 40 种元素的浓度。在本文中，我们定义了元素代谢组学的基本概念，总结了标准和工作流程，并提出了报告元素代谢组学实验结果的最低信息要求。还回顾了元素代谢组学的主要统计和信息学工具，并讨论了应用实例。元素代谢组学作为一种新兴的重要技术，正在医学诊断、营养、农业、食品科学、环境科学和其他多个领域得到应用。
