Trimethylamine
metaboliteTrimethylamine is oxidized to TMAO, which promotes systemic inflammation and atherosclerosis independent of lipid pathways.
Pathway placement
Cascade stepOff-pathway / systemic markers
Confidencemedium
RationaleCholine/carnitine metabolite precursor to pro-atherosclerotic TMAO; systemic metabolic dysregulation marker.
Also acts inVascular inflammation
Druggability
Not assessed (no mapped human gene target).
Type I vs Type II discrimination
ScoresLow-confidence (proxy)
R — rupture / Type-I70
C — confounder / Type-II65
A — assay feasibility42
E — evidence strength28
T1DI (composite)6
Specificity differential (R−C)+4.9
Confounder panel (Type-II drivers)
No confounder evidence retrieved.
Tier: light (literature co-occurrence proxy — lower confidence). See the discrimination table for all markers.
Assay & specimen
Class-level default (no specific cleared assay)— generic method inferred from analyte class; confirm against a specific product insert before use.
Specimen
Serum, plasma or urine
Collection tube
Serum separator (gold/red-top, SST) · Lithium heparin (green-top) · Sterile urine container
Method / principle
LC-MS/MS (targeted metabolomics) or enzymatic colorimetric where available
Reagent / substrate
Stable-isotope-labeled internal standard (MS); or enzyme-coupled Trinder reagent
Platform
LC-MS/MS; some automated chemistry
Turnaround · availability
Send-out / research · Specialized / research
Literature evidence(1)
- Circulating metabolites from the choline pathway and acute coronary syndromes in a Chinese case-control study.Nutrition & metabolism · 2020 · PMID 32489394 · doi