An update on lipidomics: progress and application in biomarker and drug development.

Substantial progress has been made in the application of lipidomics in biomarker discovery and drug development, as well as in a variety of other areas. In particular, the number of published studies reporting the quantitation and analysis of low-abundance lipid molecular species has greatly increased. It can be anticipated that many of the biochemical mechanisms underlying metabolic syndromes and other lipid-related diseases will be identified through these methods. Importantly, lipid markers diagnostic of the onset, progression, or severity of these diseases as well as evaluation of drug efficacy and safety will be discovered as the ability to detect low-abundance lipid molecular species improves. An update of technical developments within the field of lipidomics from 2006 to the present is provided, along with a brief discussion of its applications in biomarker and drug development.