What is TMAO?
Trimetlylamine oxide (TMAO) is a small molecule compound widely found in aquatic products in nature, but also in mammals, plants, and fungi. TMAO is involved in a variety of important biological functions of the organism, such as osmoregulation and maintenance of intracellular homeostasis.
In recent years, with the in-depth study of intestinal flora, scientists have found that the levels of TMAO and related metabolites are closely related to various diseases such as cardiovascular disease, myocardial infarction, diabetes, chronic kidney disease, and cancer. The complete quantitative analysis of TMAO and related metabolites can provide a reliable basis for the diagnosis and prediction of related diseases, etiology and pathogenesis research, and efficacy assessment.
In humans, TMAO is mainly derived from the oxidation of trimethylamine (TMA) by intestinal flora. Intestinal microorganisms metabolize and produce TMAO from ingested nutrients such as lecithin and choline. TMAO enters the liver via the portal circulation, where it is oxidized by flavin monooxygenase 3 (FMO3) or other flavin monooxygenases (FMOx) to produce TMAO. TMAO precursors also include carnitine, betaine, creatinine, etc.
Based on the UHPLC-MS technology platform, Creative Proteomics can perform absolute qualitative and quantitative analysis of TMAO, TMA, choline, betaine, creatinine and l-carnitine, ensuring good separation of multiple isoforms. The use of representative isotopes as internal standard calibration significantly improves the accuracy of qualitative and quantitative detection with excellent sensitivity, precision, reproducibility and accuracy.
Applications of TMAO Quantitative Analysis
- Disease marker screening
- Diagnosis and typing of diseases
- Diagnosis of disease recurrence
- Etiology and pathological mechanism investigation
- Clinical efficacy evaluation
- Drug toxicology evaluation
Service Workflow

Sample Requirements
- Plasma/serum ≥300 µL
- Tissues ≥200 mg
- Feces ≥ 0.3g
- Cell ≥1×107
- Cell medium ≥ 100 µL
Storage of samples: liquid nitrogen or -80°C. Sample transport: dry ice. Please contact us for other sample types.
Deliverables
- Experimental procedure
- Parameters of liquid chromatography and mass spectrometry
- MS raw data files and MS data quality checks
- Absolute quantitative data
- Custom analysis report
Project Cycle
A standard experiment and analysis process takes about 2~6 weeks.
Creative Proteomics provides TMAO and related metabolite quantification services with accurate and detailed data and analytical reports. If you want to detect other metabolites, you can tell us through the inquiry form, and our technicians will communicate with you.
For Research Use Only. Not for use in diagnostic procedures.