Metabolomics in Pediatric Neuropsychiatry

Abstract

Metabolomics is one of the newest “omics” sciences that is being applied to date to investigate several aspects of pathologies and medical topics in general. It provides a snapshot of the metabolic state of an individual by the detection of metabolites in several biological fluids, such as saliva, blood and sweat. Our research group has more than a decade of experience in this field and we ourselves applied this technology to investigate, for instance, every aspect of breast milk, different neonatal diseases and neuropsychiatric disorders. In this paper, which is adapted from the lecture given by Professor Fanos at the 5th edition of the Galatia Congress (2021), we discuss the usefulness of metabolomics in the investigation of paediatric neuropsychiatric disorders. We are convinced that this technique, in the future, will provide all the answer to the infinite questions concerning the paediatric brain and its disorders, in order to help the clinicians and families of these children to give the best life possible to these little patients.

An Exploratory Investigation of Organic Chemicals Detected in Baby Teeth: Differences in Children with and without Autism

“…The genome has opened a pandora’s box of possibilities [ 65 , 66 ] in terms of interacting environmental and biological risk factors that act to increase the risk of autism. The resulting impact on gene expression and interactions between the Proteome, Metabolome, and Microbiome [ 65 , 67 ] adds massive complexity. Furthermore, the interactive effect of the exposome on these systems can be acknowledged, all coming together as a vast Interactome [ 68 , 69 ].…”