Sphingolipids are a class of lipids that have been linked to inflammatory disease states, including neurodegeneration and cardiovascular diseases. A deeper molecular understanding is needed to develop better treatments for inflammatory conditions. Sphingolipids are also involved in the maintenance of the skin barrier and therefore are routinely used in skin care products.
Although sphingolipids are involved in various biological processes, they have traditionally been underrepresented in complex lipids analysis. Most sphingolipid analyses rely on genomic and proteomic readouts that provide a “first look” into upregulated or downregulated proteins but fail to confirm their activity and illuminate their final, functional role. In addition, these omics miss the impact of lipid-mediated inflammation completely and cannot give a comprehensive view of the biology of inflammation.
Other omic approaches have identified the relative presence of sphingolipids, but metabolomics
The Metabolon Sphingolipid Targeted Panel is a hypothesis-generating targeted panel that measures changes in 61 lipid species across five lipid classes with strong links to inflammation. This panel extends insights from genomics and proteomics by confirming the functional impact of upregulated and downregulated genes and proteins and filling gaps in metabolic pathways and biological systems that cannot be observed with other approaches.
The Sphingolipids Targeted Panel gives a final, functional readout of small molecule changes at a metabolic pathway level, including the impact of exogenous lifestyle and environmental factors. These findings can be used to study and treat inflammatory conditions by elucidating new biomarkers for drug response, disease progression, clinical outcomes, and the subtyping of disease. The Sphingolipids Targeted Panel detects known bioactive mediators of inflammation to enable you to gain insights into key disease areas such as cardiovascular, neurodegeneration, dermatitis, and more.
The Sphingolipids Targeted Panel complements the Metabolon Global Discovery Panel and other inflammation-related targeted panels. With over 20 years of experience helping commercial and academic studies gain insights from metabolomic analyses and with over 3,000 citations in scientific journals, Metabolon is leading the way in applied metabolomics solutions worldwide.
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| Metabolites | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ceramide (CER) | Dihydroceramide (DCER) | Hexosylceramide (HCER) | Lactosylceramide (LCER) | Sphingomyelin (SM) |
| CER(14:0) | DCER(14:0) | HCER(14:0) | LCER(14:0) | SM(14:0) |
| CER(16:0) | DCER(16:0) | HCER(16:0) | LCER(16:0) | SM(16:0) |
| CER(18:0) | DCER(18:0) | HCER(18:0) | LCER(18:0) | SM(18:0) |
| CER(18:1) | DCER(18:1) | HCER(18:1) | LCER(18:1) | SM(18:1) |
| CER(20:0) | DCER(20:0) | HCER(20:0) | LCER(20:0) | SM(20:0) |
| CER(20:1) | DCER(20:1) | HCER(20:1) | LCER(20:1) | SM(20:1) |
| CER(22:0) | DCER(22:0) | HCER(22:0) | LCER(22:0) | SM(22:0) |
| CER(22:1) | DCER(22:1) | HCER(22:1) | LCER(22:1) | SM(22:1) |
| CER(24:0) | DCER(24:0) | HCER(24:0) | LCER(24:0) | SM(24:0) |
| CER(24:1) | DCER(24:1) | HCER(24:1) | LCER(24:1) | SM(24:1) |
| CER(26:0) | DCER(26:0) | HCER(26:0) | LCER(26:0) | SM(26:0) |
| CER(26:1) | DCER(26:1) | HCER(26:1) | LCER(26:1) | SM(26:1) |
| DCER(22:2) | ||||
LC-MS/MS: FIA-MRM-MS (Shimadzu LC/SCIEX QTRAP 5500)
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| Sample Type | Sample Requirements | Plasma | ≥ 150 µl |
|---|
Others on request
Disclaimer: This panel is for Research Use Only and is not to be used for diagnostic purposes.
Our readily available or custom developed quantitative assays help you achieve your research and biomarker validation objectives with precise and fully validated methods. Our targeted assays and panels cover more than 1,000 metabolites and lipids across a wide range of biochemical classes, metabolic pathways, and physiological processes, and they can be customized to best fit any application.
It is well-established that a low-carbohydrate, high-fat ketogenic diet (KD) can help treat refractory epilepsy, which affects more than a third of epileptic patients who don’t respond to existing anticonvulsive drugs. What scientists haven’t understood until recently is how this kind of diet translates to brain activity. The answer for this aspect of epilepsy lies in the gut microbiome. There are many other neurological disorders like Alzheimer’s disease, ALS, Parkinson’s disease, and more. While so much remains to be understood about brain science, we do know that metabolomics is uniquely poised to understand the brain because of the ability of metabolites, small molecules, to cross the blood-brain barrier providing unique insights.
Heart failure is a leading cause of death worldwide, and there are numerous factors that lead to this and other cardiovascular diseases (CVD). Metabolomics can illuminate cardiovascular disease at multiple levels. In preclinical studies, such as with cardiomyocytes or heart tissue from model organisms, understanding mitochondrial function, energetics, and redox status can drive critical insights into disease mechanism. In human studies, metabolomics offers the opportunity to account for well-established CVD risk factors such as cholesterol and complex lipids, while simultaneously profiling thousands of other biochemicals in an unbiased fashion to enable the discovery of novel disease mechanisms and biomarkers.
The importance of inflammation in the development of multiple diseases- and health-related conditions including neurodegeneration, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, cancer, and inflammatory bowel disease is undisputed. Metabolomics can inform on inflammatory processes by providing a readout of the small molecules of an organism, tissue, biofluid, etc. This allows for direct molecular phenotyping of inflammation beyond the standard protein markers of typical assays. Metabolon offers several targeted assays, including oxysterols, fatty acids, kynurenine/tryptophan, and a range of others (central carbon, glucose tolerance, branched-chain amino acids, β-hydroxybutyrate) that can also inform on overall cardiovascular health that is often linked with inflammatory processes.
Metabolon’s technology can provide a comprehensive survey of the skin metabolome and microbiome from a range of non-invasive skin sampling options, including our proprietary sample preparation process that allows subjects to provide samples using commercially available tape strips. In addition to our global Precision Metabolomics platform, we can quantitatively measure hundreds of lipid analytes on our pre-existing skin lipid panels. With the ability to capture biomarkers of wound repair, UV exposure, hydration, environmental exposures, and more, our proprietary platform has helped researchers understand skin conditions as diverse as dandruff, atopic dermatitis, psoriasis, acne, and aging.
Once you see the full value of metabolomics, the only remaining question is: who does it best? While many laboratories have metabolite profiling or analytical chemistry capabilities, comprehensive metabolomics technologies are extremely rare.
Accurate, unbiased metabolite identification across the entire metabolome introduces signal-to-noise challenges that very few labs are equipped to handle. Also, translating massive quantities of data into actionable information is slow, if not impossible, for most because proper interpretation takes two things that are in short supply: experience and a comprehensive database.
Using our robust platform and visualization tools, our experts are uniquely able to tell you more about your molecule and develop assay panels to help you zero in on the results you need.
Coverage
Ability to interrogate thousands of metabolites across diverse biochemical space, revealing new insights and opportunities
Comparability
Ability to integrate the data from different studies into the same dataset, in different geographies, among different patients over time
Competency
Ability to inform on proper study design, generate high‐quality data, derive biological insights, and make actionable recommendations
Capacity
Ability to process hundreds of thousands of samples quickly and cost‐efficiently to service rapidly growing demand
Request a quote for our services, get more information on sample types and handling procedures, request a letter of support, or submit a question about how metabolomics can advance your research.
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