Integrated Metabolomics Assessment of Human Dried Blood Spots and Urine Strips

Metabolites. 2017 Jul 15;7(3)

Jeremy Drolet, Vladimir Tolstikov, Brian A. Williams, Bennett P. Greenwood, Collin Hill, Vivek K. Vishnudas, Rangaprasad Sarangarajan, Niven R. Narain, Michael A. Kiebish

Analysis of a patient and population’s metabolic profile is becoming an integral component of precision medicine and population health. However, these studies often require samples in sufficiently large quantities to produce meaningful results as well as a trip to the clinic. Dried blood spot (DBS) and dried urine spot (DUS) are minimally invasive, low cost methods for serial sample collection. In this study, BERG scientists compared metabolomics analysis from blood in liquid form and blood collected onto a DBS card, and liquid urine as well as urine spotted onto strips to establish the utility across workflows. It was determined that similar metabolomic coverage could be obtained using both sample collection methods. Using DBS and DUS to analyze blood and urine respectively, several hundred metabolites were measured. To establish dynamic time course alterations as well as the stability of different metabolites using the various biofluid sampling techniques, experiments were performed to identify metabolites that vary within the days and across days as well as those effected by time and temperature. By developing workflows that minimize cost as well as empower patients to make health decisions, precision medicine and population health assessment can be realized with these translational workflows.

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