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Abstract
The role that metabolic phenotyping can increasingly play in patient stratification and personalised medicine is discussed. The background to the general approach, comprehensive and simultaneous analysis of small-molecule metabolites in biofluids, tissues and tissue extracts combined with suitable multivariate statistical models, is summarised. The main techniques used (NMR and mass spectrometry) are cited, and the implementation of dedicated phenome centres is explained. Finally, the advantages and limitations, opportunities and drawbacks of the approach are discussed.
Declaration of interests
The authors are employees of Imperial College London and also Directors and stock-holders in Metabometrix Ltd. This work was produced without specific funding. JK Nicholson also has paid consultancies with analytical instrument companies. The authors have no other relevant affiliations or financial involvement with any organisation or entity with a financial interest in or financial conflict with the subject matter or materials discussed in the manuscript apart from those disclosed.