COVID-19 Can Cause Serious Illness

Currently, there are still major gaps in our understanding of how COVID-19 disease severity is associated with the host’s age, gender, and pre-existing conditions, limiting therapeutic options. The reasons behind the wide variability in individual responses to COVID-19 are poorly understood. This complexity calls for innovative ways to discover underlying pathologic pathways and to identify potential diagnostic and prognostic biomarkers of COVID-19. A better understanding of the host’s metabolic responses associated with COVID-19 is required to expand our knowledge about the pathogenesis of patients under different symptomatic conditions and to assist in the identification of disease biomarkers and the development of diagnostic panels, as well as possible therapeutic strategies.

Moreover, research has been faced with unprecedented circumstances due to the COVID-19 pandemic, limiting the ability of patients to access the lab for the collection of blood plasma, serum, and fecal samples. This dynamic has slowed or prevented many research programs globally.

Recognized for our cutting-edge approach to metabolomics, Metabolon has been a valued resource for COVID-19 researchers worldwide. Our actionable metabolomic insights can help improve our understanding of why some patients are at the highest risk of severe infection so that in the future, physicians can most effectively treat them. Metabolon is the industry leader in the ability to reveal metabolic perturbations across all biochemical pathways including amino acids, carbohydrates, lipids, nucleotides, microbiota metabolism, energy, cofactors and vitamins, xenobiotics, and novel metabolites. Metabolon’s global metabolomics can detect and identify 5400+ metabolites from various biological sources. Given that metabolism represents the integration of genetic and non-genetic factors such as microbiome and lifestyle, it is a uniquely poised modality to assess health outcomes and severity of the disease, particularly relevant to understanding the trajectory of COVID-19 infection. Finally, Metabolon’s validation of DBS and the OMNImet®•GUT device for metabolomic studies provides a valid solution for exploratory research on blood and stool-derived metabolites when access to, or appropriate storage and handling of blood and stool samples is limited or not possible. Metabolon’s metabolomic insights will help inform the development of personalized diagnostics, prognostics, and novel therapeutics to address the COVID-19 pandemic.

Amino acids (AA) are the foundational building blocks for peptides and proteins. These small molecules regulate metabolic pathways that are involved in cell maintenance, growth, reproduction, and immunity. Branched chain amino acids play a large role in building muscle tissue and participate in increasing protein synthesis. Amino acids also play a role in cell signaling, gene expression and protein phosphorylation. Maintaining an optimal balance of amino acids is vital to maintaining a stable equilibrium of physiological processes.

Central carbon metabolism involves the enzymatic conversion of sugars into metabolic precursors that are used to generate the entire biomass of the cell. The metabolites in this panel include key citric acid cycle compounds that connect carbohydrate, fat, and protein metabolism. In addition to supplying key metabolic precursors, central carbon metabolism is used to oxidize simple sugar molecules obtained from food to supply energy to living systems. Measurement of central carbon metabolites has great industrial relevance since it may allow the engineering of selected metabolic steps to optimize carbon flow toward precursors for industrially important metabolites.

Daily monitoring of glucose levels is an essential part of managing diabetes. However, blood glucose testing usually involves finger pricks, an invasive procedure that is troublesome to some patients. Therefore, increasing efforts have been made to develop a non-invasive method by self-testing salivary glucose levels, which are two orders of magnitude lower than those in blood.

Metabolon’s ICP-MS-based Metal Analysis Targeted Panel provides precise measurements of biologically important metal ions in biological samples. In addition to the well-established problems of toxicity associated with several metals, the vital role these ions play in a variety of biological pathways whether by catalyzing enzymatic reactions or stabilizing protein structures is still becoming clear. Intimately intertwined with the proteome and metabolome, metal ions represent an intrinsic piece vital to the holistic understanding of biological phenomena ranging from development through normal functioning to disease. Without an understanding of the role of these metals, a complete understanding of biological processes is not possible. The Metal Analysis Targeted Panel measures a variety of metals ions ranging from the macro level (ppm) including Na, K, and Ca to the micro level (ppb) including Mo, Cu, and Ni.

The kynurenine pathway is a metabolic pathway leading to the production of nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NAD+) from the enzymatic conversion of tryptophan. Immune activation leads to the formation of kynurenine with corresponding loss of tryptophan.

The kynurenine/tryptophan ratio has been used to reflect the activity of the tryptophan-degrading enzyme indoleamine 2,3-dioxygenase (IDO) in cellular inflammatory response related to symptoms of depression, schizophrenia, and other neurological disease.