Chenomx Blog

Last week was a very exciting week for Chenomx, as our unique “targeted profiling” approach was used in two high-profile ACS journal publications (see Targeted Profiling: Quantitative Analysis of 1H-NMR Metabolomics Data if the term targeted profiling doesn’t ring a bell).

An Inflammatory Arthritis-Associated Metabolite Biomarker Pattern Revealed by 1H NMR Spectroscopy, published by Aalim Weljie et. al. at the University of Calgary, uses quantitative “targeted profiling” of known metabolites coupled with O-PLS-DA pattern recognition analysis to uncover biomarker candidates for rheumatoid arthritis.

Carolyn Slupsky et. al. at the University of Alberta’s Department of Medicine and Magnetic Resonance Diagnostic Centre published the second paper: Investigations of the Effects of Gender, Diurnal Variation, and Age in Human Urinary Metabolomic Profiles. In this paper Slupsky and her colleagues investigate differences in gender, diurnal variation, and age in a human population using quantitative “targeted profiling” of metabolites. The “targeted profiling” approach is compared to a more traditional spectral binning approach, and Slupsky et. al. show that targeted profiling produces robust models, generates accurate metabolite concentration data, and provides data that can be used to help understand metabolic differences in a healthy population.

Congratulations to both groups, and we hope these papers give some inspiration as to how targeted profiling can be used in metabolomics research.

Congratulations to David Chang and Cory Banack, two Chenomx employees that recently published details of the baseline correction algorithm implemented in Chenomx NMR Suite.  The innovation in the algorithm described in the paper centers around its suitability for use in “signal-dense” NMR spectra, such as typical metabolomics samples.  Many existing baseline correction algorithms are optimized for “sparse” NMR spectra, where there is only a small number of signals.

The paper has been published in the August 2007 issue of JMR.

We’ve just published two new application notes - check them and other publications out at http://chenomx.com/publications/.

The first application note, Correcting Lineshapes in NMR Spectra (PDF), describes how to use a proven technique called “reference decovolution” to eliminate effects caused by poor shimming using Chenomx NMR Suite. Using reference deconvolution results in more consistent spectra that improve the results of both targeted profiling and spectral binning techniques.

The second application note, Identifying and Quantifying Metabolites in Blood Serum and Plasma (PDF), we discuss several approaches to the analysis of serum using Chenomx NMR Suite, focusing on relaxation-edited NMR (CPMG) and physical separation of protein and metabolites using ultrafiltration.

Enjoy, and if you have requests for new application notes, please contact us!

Want to get an in-depth view of the various modules that make up Chenomx NMR Suite? Check out our new Feature Tours:

• Chenomx Profiler Feature Tour
• Chenomx Processor Feature Tour
• Chenomx Signature Builder Feature Tour
• Chenomx Library Manager Feature Tour

We’ve been working on several new application notes over the last several months to help ease the learning curve of getting into NMR-based metabolomics.

We’ve developed the application notes based on feedback from our users on the challenges they face on an ongoing basis in their metabolomics studies.

Our first application note, Identifying Metabolites in Biofluids, we outline how to use Chenomx NMR Suite to rapidly identify and quantify metabolites.

The second application note, Statistical Analysis of Targeted Profiling Data, details how to use Umetrics SIMCA-P and Chenomx NMR Suite together find meaningful, biologically relevant patterns in your metabolomics datasets.

Finally, in the third application note, Targeted Profiling of Common Metabolites in Urine, we detail how to identify and quantify many of the most common metabolites in urine.

We hope you find these application notes useful - if you have suggestions on additional application notes you’d like to see, we’re listening!