Mass spectrometry-based metabolomics in biomarker-assisted drug discovery and oxidative stress research

Biomarker-assisted drug discovery is a major step in identification of drug efficacy and disease proliferation of both communicable and noncommunicable diseases. Biomarker-assisted drug discovery using metabolomics approach is now a reliable “path of opportunity” in drug discovery, as it offers precise insight into the efficacy of tested drug in the biological setup. With the advent of recent advances in instrumentation, accuracy and specificity of biomarker-based drug discovery program is improved. A key challenge in biomarker discovery is the choice of detection method, as diverse metabolites present in the physiological system pose varying levels of detection response with different instrumentation platforms. In biomarker-assisted early diagnosis, mass spectrometry-based metabolomics has a major advantage due to its capability of wide metabolite range coverage with great specificity. This review also discusses the advantage of biomarker-assisted discovery using metabolome analysis.