Metabolites are already used as rapid diagnostic tools for a number of diseases, allowing early diagnosis and treatment, e.g.:

• Glucose tests for diabetes
• Phenylketonuria (PKU) test on new-born babies

Metabolomics offers a powerful tool with which to study the effects of disease and drug treatments on the human body by:

• Furthering our scientific understanding of disease
• Aiding the discovery of indicators of disease (biomarkers): identifying compounds that may help identify and treat diseases earlier
• Monitoring disease progression and response to treatment

The metabolome has been shown to be a particularly high-resolution method for amplifying and thereby reflecting changes in the levels of gene products, especially those which accompany disease pathogenesis.

It also offers an insight into how drugs function, and is an increasingly utilised tool in the early stages of drug development, especially where global changes in metabolite levels are monitored. Metabolomics offers a powerful tool for:

• Clinicians to monitor patient response to drug treatments (and alter the treatments given accordingly)
• Monitoring the safety and effectiveness of drugs as a whole

Metabolomic analysis involves the collection and analysis of biological fluids. Blood (serum or plasma) or urine are typically used since these are straight forward to collect and give a profile of the whole body.