Non-linear modeling of 1H NMR metabonomic data using kernel-based orthogonal projections to latent structures optimized by simulated annealing Original Research Article

Linear multivariate projection methods are frequently applied for predictive modeling of spectroscopic data in metabonomic studies. The OPLS method is a commonly used computational procedure for characterizing spectral metabonomic data, largely due to its favorable model interpretation properties providing separate descriptions of predictive variation and response-orthogonal structured noise. However, when the relationship between descriptor variables and the response is non-linear, conventional linear models will perform sub-optimally. In this study we have evaluated to what extent a non-linear model, kernel-based orthogonal projections to latent structures (K-OPLS), can provide enhanced predictive performance compared to the linear OPLS model. Just like its linear counterpart, K-OPLS provides separate model components for predictive variation and response-orthogonal structured noise. The improved model interpretation by this separate modeling is a property unique to K-OPLS in comparison to other kernel-based models. Simulated annealing (SA) was used for effective and automated optimization of the kernel-function parameter in K-OPLS (SA-K-OPLS).