Lipidomics and Biomarker Discovery in Kidney Disease

Technological advances in mass spectrometry–based lipidomic platforms have provided the opportunity for comprehensive profiling of lipids in biological samples and shown alterations in the lipidome that occur in metabolic disorders. A lipidomic approach serves as a powerful tool for biomarker discovery and gaining insight to molecular mechanisms of disease, especially when integrated with other -omics platforms (ie, transcriptomics, proteomics, and metabolomics) in the context of systems biology. In this review, we describe the workflow commonly applied to the conduct of lipidomic studies including important aspects of study design, sample preparation, biomarker identification and quantification, and data processing and analysis, as well as crucial considerations in clinical applications. We also review some recent studies of the application of lipidomic platforms that highlight the potential of lipid biomarkers and add to our understanding of the molecular basis of kidney disease.