MALDI MASS SPECTROMETRY - IN THE ASSESSMENT OF HUMAN MICROBIOTA. CURRENT STATE AND PERSPECTIVES

Mass spectrometry is a modern physicochemical method of analysis that allows for a qualitative and quantitative analysis of the composition of a substancebased on the preliminary ionization of its constituent atoms or molecules. One of the new methods of ionization, thanks to which the mass spectrometric study of macromolecules has become widespread, is matrix-activated laser desorption / ionization (MALDI), which is a pulsed laser irradiation of the substance under study mixed with a matrix.Тhe article presents modern data on the use of the MALDI mass- spectrometry method for conducting genus and species-specific identification of microorganisms in the practice of diagnostic laboratories. The advantages of MALDI-TOF identification in comparison with other methods of microbiota research are considered.The place of mass spectrometry in the system of laboratory diagnostics of various pathogens is indicated.