Preanalytical Processing and Biobanking Procedures of Biological Samples for Metabolomics Research: A White Paper, Community Perspective (for “Precision Medicine and Pharmacometabolomics Task Group”—The Metabolomics Society Initiative)

Abstract

Although many researchers and biobanking personnel are familiar with the necessity of standardizing sample collection procedures at the axiomatic level (e.g., fasting status, time of day, "time to freezer," sample volume), other less obvious factors can also negatively affect the validity of a study, such as vial size, material and batch, centrifuge speeds, storage temperature, time and conditions, and even environmental changes in the collection room. Any biobank or research study should establish and follow a well-defined and validated protocol for the collection of samples for metabolomics research. This protocol should be fully documented in any resulting study and should involve all stakeholders in its design. The use of samples that have been collected using standardized and validated protocols is a prerequisite to enable robust biological interpretation unhindered by unnecessary preanalytical factors that may complicate data analysis and interpretation.

Nutrimetabolomics: An Integrative Action for Metabolomic Analyses in Human Nutritional Studies

“…Moreover, the time between whole blood collection and centrifugation, combined with the temperature and sunlight exposure, should be carefully considered as these are also important preanalytical factors. Prolonged exposure to room temperature and sunlight should be avoided as whole blood in such conditions is metabolically active, what may affect several metabolites including lactate and arginine/ornithine or ascorbic acid . In this context, a new factor to evaluate plasma quality was established, the LacaScore, which is based on the ascorbic acid/lactate ratio in plasma …”

The effect of pre-analytical conditions on blood metabolomics in epidemiological studies

“…The observed changes in glucose, pyruvate, lactate and alanine, agree with previous studies 17-19, 34, 35 , and are likely due to blood cell activity, primarily red blood cells (RBC). 23,36 The absence of RBC in poststorage samples explains why these metabolites are robust to the tested post-storage conditions. 17,20 Increases in concentrations of most amino-acids with the pre-and post-storage (non-ideal) conditions that we tested here are also consistent with previous studies.…”

“…9,14 Whilst several studies have explored the impact of pre-analytical conditions on a small number of commonly assessed biomarkers in epidemiology 13,[15][16][17][18] , metabolomics -the simultaneous quantification of large numbers of metabolic traits -has particular challenges as different metabolites may have different susceptibilities to degradation. [19][20][21][22][23] The aim of this study was to determine the impact of different pre-analytical conditions, that reflect conditions potentially arising during sample collection and processing in large scale epidemiological studies, on serum and plasma metabolome.…”

Emerging Applications of Metabolomics in Clinical Pharmacology

“…17,18 The metabolomic workflow for both targeted and untargeted metabolomics analysis usually comprises the sequential steps of experimental design, sample collection and preparation, data acquisition, data analysis, metabolite identification (for untargeted metabolomics), and biological interpretation ( Figure 1). 19,20 Many reviews have previously summarized the advances in metabolomics technologies, including sample collection 21 and preparation 22,23 and data acquisition 2,5 and analysis. 24 Herein, we aim to brief the key development of the mass spectrometry (MS)-based metabolomics technologies that were frequently used in clinical pharmacology studies in the past 5 years.…”