Appreciation of special susceptibility through metabolomics
Heikki Savolainen, Ministry of Social Affairs and Health, Tampere, Finland
10 July 2012
Dear Editor,
The review correctly points out that the use of metabolomics is already in the clinical routine (1).
By applying the idea of individual susceptibility, it was found that carriers of slow N-acetyltransferase activity may excrete more slowly the amine metabolites of organic diisocyanates (2). If this trait was associated with a heterozygous antitrypsin phenotype, the risk of developing an occupational asthma in work involving diisocyanates was threefold (Confidence interval 1.2-8). Thus it seems that the combination of traits is even more important than specifying single changes.
1. Robinette SL, Holmes E, Nicholson JK, Dumas ME. Genetic determinants of metabolism in health and disease: from biochemical genetics to genome-wide associations. Genome Medicine 2012, 4:30
2. Berode M, Jost M, Ruegger M, Savolainen H. Host factors in occupational diisocyanate asthma: a Swiss longitudinal study. Int Arch Occup Environ Hlth 2005, 78:158
Appreciation of special susceptibility through metabolomics
10 July 2012
Dear Editor,
The review correctly points out that the use of metabolomics is already in the clinical routine (1).
By applying the idea of individual susceptibility, it was found that carriers of slow N-acetyltransferase activity may excrete more slowly the amine metabolites of organic diisocyanates (2). If this trait was associated with a heterozygous antitrypsin phenotype, the risk of developing an occupational asthma in work involving diisocyanates was threefold (Confidence interval 1.2-8). Thus it seems that the combination of traits is even more important than specifying single changes.
1. Robinette SL, Holmes E, Nicholson JK, Dumas ME. Genetic determinants of metabolism in health and disease: from biochemical genetics to genome-wide associations. Genome Medicine 2012, 4:30
2. Berode M, Jost M, Ruegger M, Savolainen H. Host factors in occupational diisocyanate asthma: a Swiss longitudinal study. Int Arch Occup Environ Hlth 2005, 78:158
Competing interests
None