TY  - JOUR
A1  - Sens, Alena
A1  - Rischke, Samuel
A1  - Hahnefeld, Lisa Katharina
A1  - Dorochow, Erika
A1  - Schäfer, Stephan Martin Gastón Helmut Johannes
A1  - Thomas, Dominique Jeanette
A1  - Köhm, Michaela
A1  - Geisslinger, Gerd
A1  - Behrens, Frank
A1  - Gurke, Robert
T1  - Pre-analytical sample handling standardization for reliable measurement of metabolites and lipids in LC-MS-based clinical research
T2  - Journal of mass spectrometry and advances in the clinical lab
N2  - The emerging disciplines of lipidomics and metabolomics show great potential for the discovery of diagnostic biomarkers, but appropriate pre-analytical sample-handling procedures are critical because several analytes are prone to ex vivo distortions during sample collection. To test how the intermediate storage temperature and storage period of plasma samples from K3EDTA whole-blood collection tubes affect analyte concentrations, we assessed samples from non-fasting healthy volunteers (n = 9) for a broad spectrum of metabolites, including lipids and lipid mediators, using a well-established LC-MS-based platform. We used a fold change-based approach as a relative measure of analyte stability to evaluate 489 analytes, employing a combination of targeted LC-MS/MS and LC-HRMS screening. The concentrations of many analytes were found to be reliable, often justifying less strict sample handling; however, certain analytes were unstable, supporting the need for meticulous processing. We make four data-driven recommendations for sample-handling protocols with varying degrees of stringency, based on the maximum number of analytes and the feasibility of routine clinical implementation. These protocols also enable the simple evaluation of biomarker candidates based on their analyte-specific vulnerability to ex vivo distortions. In summary, pre-analytical sample handling has a major effect on the suitability of certain metabolites as biomarkers, including several lipids and lipid mediators. Our sample-handling recommendations will increase the reliability and quality of samples when such metabolites are necessary for routine clinical diagnosis.
KW  - Lipidomics
KW  - Metabolomics
KW  - K3EDTA plasma sampling
KW  - Sampling protocol
KW  - Pre-analytics
Y1  - 2023
UR  - http://publikationen.ub.uni-frankfurt.de/frontdoor/index/index/docId/78882
UR  - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:hebis:30:3-788823
SN  - 2667-145X
VL  - 28
SP  - 35
EP  - 46
PB  - Elsevier
CY  - Amsterdam
ER  -