H NMR-based metabolite profiling for biomarker identification.

The metabolome is affected by individual physiologic and pathophysiologic states as well as the environment. Metabolomics has become crucial approach for clinical studies, providing a better understanding of disease mechanisms. The expansion of analytical methods aiming at performing detailed analysis of biofluids has led to the characterization of many disease biomarkers. NMR provides faster and more comprehensive assessment of the biological samples in human models. NMR-based profiling studies aimed at identifying biomarkers for specific diseases has significantly increased over the last few years. These have attempted to correlate human pathophysiology with alterations in the metabolic profile of common biofluids such as urine, plasma and serum. In this context, NMR-based untargeted metabolomics has become an important adjunct for the identification of biomarkers in disease research, not only for early diagnosis purposes, but also for therapy prediction, precise prognosis or monitoring of disease progression. This review critically discusses recent findings of urine (non-invasive) and blood serum and plasma (minimally invasive) metabolomics, focusing on key role of metabolites and their use as potential biomarkers for diagnostic purposes.