Sarosiek I, Schicho R, Blandon P, Bashashati M. Urinary metabolites as noninvasive biomarkers of gastrointestinal diseases: A clinical review. World J Gastrointest Oncol 2016; 8(5): 459-465 [PMID: 27190585 DOI: 10.4251/wjgo.v8.i5.459]
Corresponding Author of This Article
Mohammad Bashashati, MD, Research Scientist, Division of Gastroenterology, Department of Internal Medicine, Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center, 4800 Alberta Ave, El Paso, TX 79905, United States. bashashati.md@gmail.com
Research Domain of This Article
Gastroenterology & Hepatology
Article-Type of This Article
Minireviews
Open-Access Policy of This Article
This article is an open-access article which was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
World J Gastrointest Oncol. May 15, 2016; 8(5): 459-465 Published online May 15, 2016. doi: 10.4251/wjgo.v8.i5.459
Urinary metabolites as noninvasive biomarkers of gastrointestinal diseases: A clinical review
Irene Sarosiek, Rudolf Schicho, Pedro Blandon, Mohammad Bashashati
Irene Sarosiek, Mohammad Bashashati, Division of Gastroenterology, Department of Internal Medicine, Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center, El Paso, TX 79905, United States
Rudolf Schicho, Institute of Experimental and Clinical Pharmacology, Medical University of Graz, 8010 Graz, Austria
Pedro Blandon, Division of Nephrology, Department of Internal Medicine, Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center, El Paso, TX 79905, United States
Author contributions: All authors were equally involved in drafting, reviewing and finalizing the manuscript.
Conflict-of-interest statement: There is no conflict of interest associated with any of the authors of this manuscript.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article which was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Correspondence to: Mohammad Bashashati, MD, Research Scientist, Division of Gastroenterology, Department of Internal Medicine, Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center, 4800 Alberta Ave, El Paso, TX 79905, United States. bashashati.md@gmail.com
Telephone: +1-915-2155148 Fax: +1-915-5456210
Received: September 30, 2015 Peer-review started: October 1, 2015 First decision: November 13, 2015 Revised: January 12, 2016 Accepted: March 7, 2016 Article in press: March 9, 2016 Published online: May 15, 2016
Abstract
The diagnosis of gastrointestinal (GI) disorders is usually based on invasive techniques such as endoscopy. A key important factor in GI cancer is early diagnosis which warrants development of non- or less-invasive diagnostic techniques. In addition, monitoring and surveillance are other important parts in the management of GI diseases. Metabolomics studies with nuclear magnetic resonance and mass spectrometry can measure the concentration of more than 3000 chemical compounds in the urine providing possible chemical signature in different diseases and during health. In this review, we discuss the urinary metabolomics signature of different GI diseases including GI cancer and elaborate on how these biomarkers could be used for the classification, early diagnosis and the monitoring of the patients. Moreover, we discuss future directions of this still evolving field of research.
Core tip: Scientists are always searching for new disease biomarkers. An acceptable biomarker could help us in early diagnosis and classification of the diseases as well as the prediction of disease outcome. The diagnosis of gastrointestinal (GI) diseases is usually based on techniques such as upper or lower GI endoscopy, while highly sensitive and specific non-invasive diagnostic or screening tools are usually lacking. In this review, we have discussed the potentials of urinary metabolomics study as a future tool for the screening, diagnosis, classification and surveillance of GI diseases including inflammatory bowel disease and cancer.
