Metabolic profiling of adrenal lesions
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Metabolic profiling of patients with adrenal lesions using high performance liquid chromatography and high resolution accurate mass time-of-flight lesion spectrometry.
IRAS ID
305884
Contact name
Andrew Davison
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
Liverpool University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
Duration of Study in the UK
2 years, 0 months, 1 days
Research summary
When a patient is identified as having an adrenal lesion it is important to identify any abnormal hormonal activity or malignant potential. This commonly involves extensive radiological and biochemical testing which is resource intensive, expensive and time consuming. Based on the findings of these investigations, further invasive testing may also be required before a robust diagnosis can be established.
The measurement of certain hormones in a patient's blood and urine is already an established method for investigating the hormonal activity of adrenal lesions, and combining the measurement of several hormones into a 'profile' has been proposed as a tool to distinguish between malignant and non-malignant lesions. Other studies have also shown targeted measurement of various chemical markers in blood and urine can highlight specific genetic mutations which relate to adrenal lesion function. This demonstrates how chemical markers can be used to investigate lesion functionality, however the targeted nature of current testing methodologies precludes the discovery of novel markers which may offer further clinically relevant information.
'Untargeted metabolomics' is a highly attractive approach for investigating how adrenal lesions alter the chemical signatures present in patient's bodily fluids as these techniques are not limited to testing for known markers. This may facilitate the discovery of new ways of investigating the clinically relevant aspects of adrenal lesion function and lead towards a better understanding of the physiology of different types of adrenal lesions by showing which markers are affected and how these compare to 'normality'. To date, the application of untargeted metabolomics to a range of different sample collected from patients with adrenal lesions remains relatively unexplored.
REC name
East Midlands - Derby Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
23/EM/0025
Date of REC Opinion
7 Mar 2023
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion