 Metabonomic Signature of Celiac Disease Kathleen La Point
Kathleen LaPoint is a biomedical writer with a B.S. in Molecular
Biology and an M.S. in Bacteriology from the University of
Wisconsin - Madison.   By Kathleen La Point Published
on 12/23/2008 The emerging field of metabonomics offers a new
way to understand celiac disease.  Celiac.com 12/23/2008 -
Metabolites are small–molecule products of biochemical processes
in the body’s cells. Analysis of these metabolites can detect
changes in the body caused by chemical toxicity, disease, gene
mutations, or diet. Bacteria in the gut also contribute to this
“metabolic signature”, so it is also a way to understand changes
in gut microbe populations.  Because metabolites are excreted
from the cells into blood and urine, collecting these samples
can be easy, noninvasive, and inexpensive. Chemical techniques
like nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy are used to
analyze the samples. The results of NMR spectroscopy are
chemical patterns, showing the simultane