Metabolomics Toward Biomarker Discovery.

Metabolomics has been used as practical tool in the discovery of novel biomarkers in a broad area in the clinic. The analytical platforms including nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) and mass spectrometry (MS) can cover thousands of metabolites. With the help of multivariate data analysis, many potential biomarkers can be defined in the studies. Since metabolites stand at the end point of metabolism, it remains difficult to find novel biomarkers with good diagnostic or prognostic performance. In this chapter, we will introduce a general protocol for biomarker discovery within the scope of metabolomics using MS.