Applications of metabolomics in biomedicine

Nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy represents an optimal tool in modern chemical and biochemical research; for this reason, numerous applications can be found in both biology, and biomedicine. Despite its lower sensitivity, nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy offers many unparalleled advantages over mass spectrometry in order to perform metabolomic analysis. Metabolomics is defined as the analysis of the complete ensemble of low molecular weight molecules, the metabolites, present in a biological specimen. It is an emerging technology that holds promise powerful insights into the mechanisms of human health and disease making personalized medicine even more personalized. In this methodological thesis, with the aim of demonstrating the potential of NMR-based metabolomics in biomedical research different topics have been addressed and discussed: 1) the use of NMR-metabolomics to provide innovative means to predict response and recurrence of diseases; 2) the characterization of the metabolic signature of pathological states via NMR to uncover their underlying molecular mechanisms; 3) the application of NMR-base metabolomics in the framework of precision medicine by characterizing the human plasma metabolic phenotype and by monitoring the effect of drug treatments or life style interventions on the metabolome; 4) the investigation of potential applications of metabolomics in veterinary research. In conclusion, the results presented in this thesis, obtained by a combination of biochemistry, analytical chemistry, bioinformatics, and clinical data, showed that fingerprinting analysis by NMR has the potential not only to increase our knowledge on specific diseases, but also to be translated in clinical practice for diagnostic or prognostic purposes.