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Analyzing metabolomics-based challenge tests

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Abstract

Challenge tests are used to assess the resilience of human beings to perturbations by analyzing responses to detect functional abnormalities. Well known examples are allergy tests and glucose tolerance tests. Increasingly, metabolomics analysis of blood or serum samples is used to analyze the biological response of the individual to these challenges. The information content of such metabolomics challenge test data involves both the disturbance and restoration of homeostasis on a metabolic level and is thus inherently different from the analysis of steady state data. It opens doors to study the variation of resilience between individuals beyond the classical biomarkers; preferably in terms of underlying biological processes. We review challenge tests in which metabolomics was used to analyze the biological response. Specifically, we describe strategies to perform statistical analyses on the responses and we will show some examples of these strategies applied to a postprandial challenge that was used to study a diet with anti-inflammatory properties. Finally we discuss open issues and give recommendation for further research.

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Acknowledgments

Gooitzen Zwanenburg is acknowledged for kindly providing the minimal glucose model results. The research was funded by the Netherlands Metabolomics Centre (NMC), which is a part of The Netherlands Genomics Initiative/Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Metabolic Diseases, University Medical Center, Utrecht, The Netherlands

    Daniel J. Vis

  2. Biosystems Data Analysis, Swammerdam Institute for Life Sciences, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands

    Daniel J. Vis, Johan A. Westerhuis & Age K. Smilde

  3. LACDR, Leiden University, Leiden, The Netherlands

    Daniel J. Vis & Margriet M. W. B. Hendriks

  4. Unilever R&D, Vlaardingen, The Netherlands

    Doris M. Jacobs & John P. M. van Duynhoven

  5. TNO, Zeist, The Netherlands

    Suzan Wopereis & Ben van Ommen

  6. Wageningen University, Wageningen, The Netherlands

    John P. M. van Duynhoven

  7. Netherlands Metabolomics Centre, Leiden, The Netherlands

    Daniel J. Vis, Johan A. Westerhuis, Doris M. Jacobs, John P. M. van Duynhoven, Suzan Wopereis, Ben van Ommen, Margriet M. W. B. Hendriks & Age K. Smilde

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  1. Daniel J. Vis
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Margriet M. W. B. Hendriks and Age K. Smilde have equally contributed to this study.

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Vis, D.J., Westerhuis, J.A., Jacobs, D.M. et al. Analyzing metabolomics-based challenge tests. Metabolomics 11, 50–63 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11306-014-0673-7

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