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An Overview of the Role of Metabolomics in the Identification of Dietary Biomarkers

  • Cardiovascular Disease (JHY Wu, Section Editor)
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Abstract

Application of metabolomics to nutrition research is rapidly growing. Currently, the main areas where metabolomics plays a role in nutrition research are (1) identification of dietary biomarkers (2) study of diet-related diseases and (3) examination of metabolic effects due to nutrition interventions. The present review focuses on the role metabolomics can play in the discovery of dietary biomarkers. Achieving accurate assessment of dietary intake is one of the main hurdles in nutrition research. Classical self-reporting methods have a number of well-documented limitations, and there is a pressing need for more objective measures. In this respect, there is growing interest in dietary biomarkers and metabolomic applications offer a unique method for the identification of new dietary biomarkers. In recent years, a number of putative biomarkers have been identified using metabolomic-based approaches; however, validation of the biomarkers is still lacking. Further work is needed to demonstrate the true ability of these biomarkers in nutrition research.

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Acknowledgments

The authors would like to acknowledge the following funding: FP7 Project NutriTech (289511) and SFI (14/JP-HDHL/B3075).

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Conflict of Interest

Lorraine Brennan has received research funding through grants from Science Foundation Ireland (support for participation in FoodBall) and the European Union (support for research projects NutriTech and A-DIET).

Helena Gibbons declares that she has no conflict of interest.

Aoife O’Gorman declares that she has no conflict of interest.

Human and Animal Rights and Informed Consent

This article does not contain any studies with human or animal subjects performed by any of the authors.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. UCD Conway Institute, Belfield, Dublin, Ireland

    L. Brennan, H. Gibbons & A. O’Gorman

  2. UCD Institute of Food and Health, Belfield, Dublin, Ireland

    L. Brennan, H. Gibbons & A. O’Gorman

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  1. L. Brennan
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Correspondence to L. Brennan.

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This article is part of the Topical Collection on Cardiovascular Disease

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Brennan, L., Gibbons, H. & O’Gorman, A. An Overview of the Role of Metabolomics in the Identification of Dietary Biomarkers. Curr Nutr Rep 4, 304–312 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13668-015-0139-1

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