Metabolomics of Aging: Sub-study of the Healthy Elderly Active Longevity (HEAL) Cohort
The HEAL study criteria includes subjects who are 80 years of age and older who have not
experienced a chronic condition. This sub-study will use plasma samples of up to 100 HEAL
subjects to compare the metabolomic findings found within this group with existing young
and elderly plasma samples that are currently under analysis at the Siuzdak lab.
The aim of this sub-study is to determine if metabolites that are downregulated in elderly
relative to young individuals are similarly downregulated in the Wellderly.
Metabolomics is a rapidly emerging field focused on profiling small, naturally occurring
(endogenous) molecules collectively known as the "metabolome." Metabolomics offers a
significant advantage over other "omics" sciences (e.g., transcriptomics and proteomics) in
that metabolites represent the most
downstream end products of cellular reactions and therefore most closely correlate with the
phenotype. Thus, by comparative untargeted profiling, metabolomics provides a powerful
strategy for understanding changes associated with a unique phenotype at the molecular
level.
Untargeted metabolomics denotes the profiling of all low molecular weight biochemicals,
including lipids, hormones, saccharides, nucleotides, organic acids, and amino acids that
serve as substrates and products in metabolic pathways. The analytes are measured without
specifically "targeting" distinct metabolites or molecules. Untargeted metabolomics has the
capacity to implicate unanticipated metabolites or pathways associated with a unique
phenotype (i.e., advanced age), and thereby provide great insight into cellular mechanisms
and pathobiology. In the latter context, the Siuzdak Laboratory has pioneered a new
approach for investigating disease known as therapeutic metabolomics in which cellular
pathways associated with disease are identified and then perturbed.
Observational
Observational Model: Cohort, Time Perspective: Prospective
Eric E Topol, MD
Principal Investigator
Scripps Translational Science Institute
United States: Institutional Review Board
SIRB# 10-5416
NCT01209884
February 2010
February 2030
Name | Location |
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Scripps Translational Science Institute | La Jolla, California 92037 |