Peripheral Blood Omics and Other Multiplex-based Systems in Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine.

Abstract

Over the last years, the use of peripheral blood-derived big datasets in combination with machine learning technology has accelerated the understanding, prediction, and management of pulmonary and critical care conditions. The goal of this article is to provide the readers with an introduction to the methods and applications of blood omics- and other multiplex-based technologies in the pulmonary and critical care medicine setting to better appreciate the current literature in the field. To accomplish that, we provide essential concepts needed to rationalize this approach and introduce the readers to the types of molecules that can be obtained from the circulating blood to generate big datasets, elaborate on the differences between bulk, sorted and single cell approaches, along with the basic analytical pipelines required for clinical interpretation. Examples of peripheral blood-derived big datasets used in recent literature are presented, and limitations of that technology are highlighted to qualify both the present and future value of these methodologies.