Abstract
There are, still, limitations to predicting the occurrence and prognosis of neurological disorders. Biomarkers are molecules that can change in different conditions, a feature that makes them potential tools to improve the diagnosis of disease, establish a prognosis, and monitor treatments. Metabolites can be used as biomarkers, and are small molecules derived from the metabolic process found in different biological media, such as tissue samples, cells, or biofluids. They can be identified using various strategies, targeted or untargeted experiments, and by different techniques, such as high-performance liquid chromatography, mass spectrometry, or nuclear magnetic resonance. In this review, we aim to discuss the current knowledge about metabolites as biomarkers for neurological disorders. We will present recent developments that show the need and the feasibility of identifying such biomarkers in different neurological disorders, as well as discuss relevant research findings in the field of metabolomics that are helping to unravel the mechanisms underlying neurological disorders. Although several relevant results have been reported in metabolomic studies in patients with neurological diseases, there is still a long way to go for the clinical use of metabolites as potential biomarkers in these disorders, and more research in the field is needed.
Highlights
Neurological disorders are currently listed among the most frequent causes of mortality and severe physical or psychological impairment throughout the world [1,2,3]
Discovering new approaches that can assist in the early diagnosis, establishing prognosis, and monitoring treatment response is of paramount importance
Metabolites can be used as disease biomarkers, and metabolomic studies have the potential to discover candidate molecules that could be used as noninvasive biomarkers of neurological disorders
Summary
Neurological disorders are currently listed among the most frequent causes of mortality and severe physical or psychological impairment throughout the world [1,2,3]. The higher sensitivity of metabolite detection in MS experiments (lower than 10μmol L−1 ) faces some problems involving the compatibility of molecules with a mode of ionization or detection, and might require previous steps of analysis, as separation by high- or ultra-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC or UPLC), with the aim to reduce sample complexity and enhance detection sensibility and metabolome coverage [21,22,23] Those separation techniques have their particularities, such as the need for the derivatization process that converts metabolites into volatile adducts in GC based experiments. Recent studies have evaluated the tissue metabolomics in vivo through stable isotope tracers to delimitate the systemic metabolite kinetics, physiological function, and mechanisms affected by genetic variants or metabolites of interest [15,33,34,35,36] These techniques can be followed by the traditional metabolomic analysis with MS or NMR to measure metabolic profile [15]. Pathway Database (SMPDB) [52], and MetaboLights [53] can be used to characterize the metabolic pathway [21]
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
