Lipidomics: Opportunities to identify new causal mechanisms and therapeutics for atherosclerosis

Abstract

A systems biology approach toward biosample analysis has the potential to play an important role in the identification of novel mechanisms of disease. Lipids are fundamental in atherogenesis, and therefore ‘lipidomics’ is likely to become increasingly utilized for biomarker discovery. These biomarkers can be tested for their ability to predict clinical events, superior to current risk prediction algorithms. These biochemical footprints will also serve as potential therapeutic targets for the next generation of anti-atherosclerotic therapies. In a similar fashion, lipidomics will also serve as a future technique for identifying molecular signatures of drug toxicity, and treatment efficacy, much prior to the advent of clinical events. A major challenge for this field is the need for statistical and bioinformatic platforms to evolve in parallel, in order to effectively handle the enormous amount of biochemical data yielded from the high-throughput analysis. Such advances will lead us closer to a more a personalized approach to medical diagnosis and treatment.