title: UPLC-based metabonomic applications for discovering biomarkers of diseases in clinical chemistry.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Metabonomics is a powerful and promising analytic tool that allows assessment of global low-molecular-weight metabolites in biological systems. It has a great potential for identifying useful biomarkers for early diagnosis, prognosis and assessment of therapeutic interventions in clinical practice. The aim of this review is to provide a brief summary of the recent advances in UPLC-based metabonomic approach for biomarker discovery in a variety of diseases, and to discuss their significance in clinical chemistry.
  
  
  METHODS
  All the available information on UPLC-based metabonomic applications for discovering biomarkers of diseases were collected via a library and electronic search (using Web of Science, Pubmed, ScienceDirect, Springer, Google Scholar, etc.).
  
  
  RESULTS
  Metabonomics has been used in clinical chemistry to identify and evaluate potential biomarkers and therapeutic targets in various diseases affecting the liver (hepatocarcinoma and liver cirrhosis), lung (lung cancer and pneumonia), gastrointestinal tract (colorectal cancer) and urogenital tract (prostate cancer, ovarian cancer and chronic kidney disease), as well as metabolic diseases (diabetes) and neuropsychiatric disorders (Alzheimer's disease and schizophrenia), etc.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The information provided highlights the potential value of determination of endogenous low-molecular-weight metabolites and the advantages and potential drawbacks of the application of UPLC-based metabonomics in clinical setting.
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Resource Biology and Biotechnology in Western China, Ministry of Education, The College of Life Sciences, Northwest University, No. 229 Taibai North Road, Xi'an, Shaanxi 710069, PR China; Division of Nephrology and Hypertension, School of Medicine, University of California, Irvine, MedSci 1, C352, UCI Campus, Irvine, CA 92868, USA. Electronic address: zyy@nwu.edu.cn.
authors.forename: Ying-Yong
authors.initials: YY
authors.lastname: Zhao
authors.affiliation: National Institutes for Food and Drug Control, State Food and Drug Administration, 2 Tiantan Xili, Beijing 100050, PR China.
authors.forename: Xian-Long
authors.initials: XL
authors.lastname: Cheng
authors.affiliation: Division of Nephrology and Hypertension, School of Medicine, University of California, Irvine, MedSci 1, C352, UCI Campus, Irvine, CA 92868, USA.
authors.forename: Nosratola D
authors.initials: ND
authors.lastname: Vaziri
authors.affiliation: Division of Nephrology and Hypertension, School of Medicine, University of California, Irvine, MedSci 1, C352, UCI Campus, Irvine, CA 92868, USA.
authors.forename: Shuman
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: School of Chinese Materia Medica, Beijing University of Chinese Medicine, No. 11 North Third Ring Road, Beijing 100029, PR China. Electronic address: linrch307@sina.com.
authors.forename: Rui-Chao
authors.initials: RC
authors.lastname: Lin
mesh_terms: D015415:Biomarkers / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism*; D035843:Biomedical Research; D002624:Chemistry, Clinical / Q000379:methods; D002851:Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid / Q000379:methods*; D003933:Diagnosis; D006801:Humans; D013058:Mass Spectrometry; D055432:Metabolomics; D058990:Molecular Targeted Therapy; D008970:Molecular Weight
chemical_list: D015415:Biomarkers
keywords: Clinical chemistry; Disease biomarkers; Mass spectrometry; Metabonomics; Ultra performance liquid chromatography