Metabolomics and its potential in diagnosis, prognosis and treatment of rheumatic diseases

The main aim of metabolomics is to make a comprehensive study of metabolites, the intermediates of biochemical processes in living organisms. Any pathophysiological mechanism caused by disease will inevitably lead to related changes in the concentrations of specific metabolites. In line with this, metabolomics offers a promising laboratory tool for the analysis of potential diagnostic biomarkers that may be used to assess susceptibility to a disease and to evaluate the prognosis and therapeutic response to treatment. Recent data have shown that metabolomics analysis in rheumatoid arthritis has made possible more efficient diagnosis, discrimination between patients with regard to disease activity, prediction of the response to a particular treatment approach, differentiation between rheumatic disease subtypes and greater understanding of the pathophysiology of this disease. Here we characterize metabolomics as a comprehensive laboratory tool and review its potential in the diagnosis, prognosis and treatment of rheumatic diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis.