Review: Microfluidic applications in metabolomics and metabolic profiling

Metabolomics is an emerging area of research focused on measuring small molecules in biological samples. There are a number of different types of metabolomics, ranging from global profiling of all metabolites in a single sample to measurement of a selected group of analytes. Microfluidics and related technologies have been used in this research area with good success. The aim of this review article is to summarize the use of microfluidics in metabolomics. Direct application of microfluidics to the determination of small molecules is covered first. Next, important sample preparation methods developed for microfluidics and applicable to metabolomics are covered. Finally, a summary of metabolomic work as it relates to analysis of cellular events using microfluidics is covered.