title: The promise of metabolic phenotyping in gastroenterology and hepatology.
abstract: Disease risk and treatment response are determined, at the individual level, by a complex history of genetic and environmental interactions, including those with our endogenous microbiomes. Personalized health care requires a deep understanding of patient biology that can now be measured using a range of '-omics' technologies. Patient stratification involves the identification of genetic and/or phenotypic disease subclasses that require different therapeutic strategies. Stratified medicine approaches to disease diagnosis, prognosis and therapeutic response monitoring herald a new dimension in patient care. Here, we explore the potential value of metabolic profiling as applied to unmet clinical needs in gastroenterology and hepatology. We describe potential applications in a number of diseases, with emphasis on large-scale population studies as well as metabolic profiling on the individual level, using spectrometric and imaging technologies that will leverage the discovery of mechanistic information and deliver novel health care solutions to improve clinical pathway management.
authors.affiliation: Division of Computational and Systems Medicine, Department of Surgery and Cancer, Faculty of Medicine, Imperial College London, London SW7 2AZ, UK.
authors.forename: Elaine
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Holmes
authors.affiliation: Division of Computational and Systems Medicine, Department of Surgery and Cancer, Faculty of Medicine, Imperial College London, London SW7 2AZ, UK.
authors.forename: Anisha
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Wijeyesekera
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Imperial College London, London SW7 2AZ, UK.
authors.forename: Simon D
authors.initials: SD
authors.lastname: Taylor-Robinson
authors.affiliation: MRC-NIHR National Phenome Centre, Department of Surgery and Cancer, Faculty of Medicine, Imperial College London, London SW7 2AZ, UK.
authors.forename: Jeremy K
authors.initials: JK
authors.lastname: Nicholson
mesh_terms: D005767:Gastrointestinal Diseases / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000628:therapy; D006801:Humans; D008107:Liver Diseases / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000628:therapy; D009682:Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy; D008490:Medical Informatics; D055442:Metabolome / Q000502:physiology*; D055432:Metabolomics; D064307:Microbiota / Q000502:physiology; D008954:Models, Biological; D010641:Phenotype; D057285:Precision Medicine / Q000379:methods