Targeted metabolomics and mass spectrometry

While a great emphasis has been placed on global metabolomic analysis in recent years, the application of metabolomic style analyses to specific subsets of compounds (targeted metabolomics) also has merits in addressing biological questions in a more hypothesis-driven manner. These analyses are designed to selectively extract information regarding a group of related metabolites from the complex mixture of biomolecules present in most metabolomic samples. Furthermore, targeted metabolomics can also be applied to metabolism within macromolecules, hence furthering the systems biology impact of the analysis. This chapter describes the difference between the global metabolomics approach and the undertaking of metabolomics in a targeted manner and describes the application of this type of analysis in a number of biologically and medically relevant fields.