Dynamic and temporal assessment of human dried blood spot MS/MS shotgun lipidomics analysis

Nutrition and Metabolism, 2017, 14: 28. Gao, et al. BERG, LLC, develops a novel mass spectrometry-based method to analyze lipid species from dried blood spot cards which can be used for precision medicine applications and in population health studies.

Authors: Fei Gao, Justice McDaniel, Emily Y. Chen, Hannah E. Rockwell, Jeremy Drolet, Vivek K. Vishnudas, Vladimir Tolstikov, Rangaprasad Sarangarajan, Niven R. Narain, Michael A. Kiebish

Analysis of blood samples is often used for diagnosis of disease, for drug monitoring, and genetic tests. The use of dried blood spot (DBS) cards to deposit a minute amount of blood onto filter paper has advantages over collection of liquid blood into tubes. DBS samples are stable, use a minimal amount of blood, and are routinely used in the clinic for newborn screening. Lipidomics is the analysis of the thousands of lipid species in human blood by mass spectrometry. Lipids can be identified by this technology by their molecular weights and characteristics. BERG, LLC developed a platform to analyze lipids extracted from blood samples on DBS cards. Blood from healthy donors was captured by DBS and analyzed by mass spectrometry at various time points. Using this approach, we were able to identify over 1200 different lipid species and observe changes occurring to the lipids over the course of a day in response to food intake, and over a week in response to circadian rhythm. The feasibility and application of this method demonstrates the potential utility for lipidomics analysis in both healthy and diverse diseases states, and empowers patients and individuals in the era of precision medicine to uncover novel biomarkers and to monitor lipid levels in response to disease or therapy.

Learn more: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/28344632