Metabolomics Analysis of OPLL Patients

Metabolomics is one of the “omics” technologies and is a comprehensive analysis of small molecule metabolites. The metabolomics is located at the downstream end of “omics” research; therefore, this research platform is most closely related to phenotype among other “omics” research. Recently, we compared the differences of metabolite profiling between patients with ossification of the posterior longitudinal ligament (OPLL) and control subjects for the first time and detected 259 metabolites. Among the 259 metabolites, some metabolites were significantly larger in OPLL group, even in analyses excluding patients with diabetes mellitus and hyperlipidemia. Although this research field is still in development, these results of the present study could lead to new insights into clarifying the molecular pathomechanisms of OPLL.