A lipidomic perspective on intermediates in cholesterol synthesis as indicators of disease status

Lipidomics is increasingly becoming a viable method for researchers to routinely identify the various sterols present in samples, beyond just measuring cholesterol itself. In particular, the measurement of intermediates in cholesterol synthesis can shed new insights into not only the flux through the pathway, but also numerous disease states where levels of sterol intermediates are drastically altered. In this review, we indicate several intermediates that are relevant to disease, and discuss the challenges for analysing them, including the need for standardised methodology or universal controls across the lipidomics field.