title: Liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry based global metabolite profiling: a review.
abstract: Untargeted, global metabolite profiling (often described as metabonomics or metabolomics) represents an expanding research topic and is, potentially, a major pillar for systems biology studies. To obtain holistic metabolic profiles from complex samples, such as biological fluids or tissue extracts, requires powerful, high resolution and information-rich analytical methods and for this spectroscopic technologies are generally used. Mass spectrometry, coupled to liquid chromatography (LC-MS), is increasingly being used for such investigations as a result of the significant advances in both technologies over the past decade. Here we try to critically review the topic of LC-MS-based global metabolic profiling and describe and compare the results offered by different analytical strategies and technologies. This review highlights the current challenges, limitations and opportunities of the current methodology.
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry, Aristotle University, Thessaloniki, Greece. gtheodor@chem.auth.gr
authors.forename: Georgios A
authors.initials: GA
authors.lastname: Theodoridis
authors.forename: Helen G
authors.initials: HG
authors.lastname: Gika
authors.forename: Elizabeth J
authors.initials: EJ
authors.lastname: Want
authors.forename: Ian D
authors.initials: ID
authors.lastname: Wilson
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D015415:Biomarkers / Q000032:analysis* / Q000737:chemistry*; D002853:Chromatography, Liquid; D006801:Humans; D013058:Mass Spectrometry; D055432:Metabolomics / Q000379:methods*
chemical_list: D015415:Biomarkers